When you're a kid, being sick is almost more good than bad. As long as it's not a life-threatening illness, you get to skip school, people feel sorry for you, and your mom brings you ice cream in bed. The Game Show Network still makes my throat hurt a little because it's all I watched for a week in sixth grade when I got the flu.
But getting sick in college is an entirely different experience. Nothing stops for you to rest and recover.
On Saturday, I woke up with the familiar seasonal ache in my throat, meaning the next week was about to be hell. Sure enough, as the day progressed, my symptoms increased. Despite the gallons of orange juice I drank and the Vitamin C supplements I chewed and all the home remedies I subjected myself to, I got sick.
Instead of just burrowing myself into my bed, I was forced to continue interacting with the public. Deadlines looming, I was forced to push myself to the Carrboro Music Festival. The bass drums thumping from every corner of the tiny town pulsed inside my head.
I was supposed to be interviewing people, but the unfortunate state of my face precluded my efforts. I would approach a happy concertgoer, all smiles and sunshine, happy babies and tail-wagging puppies, and ask "So what do you think of the festival?" with a barely-there voice and a nose full of disgusting, dripping snot.
People would glance at me with a moment of disgust before social propriety contorted their faces into a more pleasing expression. "I think music, is, uh, great," they'd say. "The festival is, um, great." And then disappear into the crowd. Clearly, my article suffered (but they do not make a Walgreens brand medicine to cure that).
I sat through all the classes, mumbling about the importance of the heroic code in Beowulf and whether or not you should anecdotal leads, while dreaming of the Nyquil waiting for me beside my comfy blankets. My presence in class was beneficial to no one.
I hope my cold hasn't damaged my GPA too much. Can I attach an addendum to my grad school applications for this?
Send the grad school admissions people to me. I'll take care of them.
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