Home is where your sickness should be
Dr. Majerus’ recent limerick about
staying home when sick and her advice has inspired this blog post. It is true
that as a Uni student, I am very hesitant to miss school because of sickness. My
logic is that if I stay home, I am just letting my work pile up. When I return
to school the amount of work I have to catch up on sometimes seems almost unmanageable.
As a result, I used to go to school when I’m feeling a little under the weather,
hoping to stay on top of my schoolwork when I really should be focusing on my health.
More often then not, overworking myself when my body is telling me to rest will
only make me sicker. I often have to miss at least a day of school because I
overworked myself.
If you come
to school while you’re sick, you spread it to other people. I don’t know about
you, but I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable around people who are sick
because I don’t want to catch their sickness, but I won’t say anything out of
politeness. Can anyone relate to this? But I also understand why they don’t
want to stay at home because I think we’ve all convinced ourselves at one point
or another that we are well enough to power through the day of school. But
usually, you feel like trash by the end of the day. Now, if I feel sick, I stay
home. I truly believe that you all should also stay home when you’re sick. I’m
not talking about when you have a little sore throat, but when you’re coughing
up a lung, please stay home. By
staying home, you get the much-needed rest that will allow you to recover faster.
Also, I’d like to point out the fact that if you’re considering staying home, it
most likely means you really are quite sick because you most likely don’t want
to miss school if you can help it.
I remember there was a winter day
in freshman year when I felt a little dizzy in the morning, but I had a test I
didn’t want to miss that day so I went to school. By third period, the whole
room felt like it was spinning, and I couldn’t concentrate on what Mr. Leff was
saying (which is saying something because he’s quite an entertaining lecturer)
and I had to call my parents to come pick me up. If I had just stayed at home, I
would have been able to sleep in which could have prevented me from feeling so
terrible later in the day.
Like Dr.
Majerus, I believe health should be everyone’s #1 priority. When we are unwell,
we aren’t able to do anything that we want to. Everything we do in a day is
only possible if we are in good health. We have to take care of ourselves and
make sure to listen to our bodies when it tells us to slow down or to rest. If
you think back to the last time you were sick, you can probably recall how
horrible you felt. Maybe a scratchy, sore throat that prevents you from even
whispering. Maybe a headache that kept you in bed. All those symptoms get in
the way of all the things you want to do. So basically, my blog post is just to
remind you all to please TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES both mentally and physically!
If you
haven’t noticed, a lot of people are sick right now, so if you have any
additional advice for people when they’re sick, please share those below!
Preach Kristine!
ReplyDeleteI really relate to this post. I have experienced both sides: coming to school sick and avoiding sick classmates. Fortunately, I have learned from my mistakes and now agree that people should stay home if they feel sick. As for advice to sick students, I used to believe that orange juice would cure all my illnesses. However, a more realistic and scientifically proven method is to drink a lot of water.
There is nothing better than a teach telling you it's okay to stay home from school. It really is true how important it is to take time and relax when you're feeling ill, and I liked how your blog talked about that. Physical and mental health tend to go hand in hand, and staying sickness free seems to be a great way to keep up in school. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you addressed both sides because they have their valid arguments. Yet, I totally agree with you about health being our #1 priority. Staying home when we're sick is considerate to both our peers and ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAs for tips, I love sleeping as much I can on a sick day. Don't stress and leave the catch-up work for later because you're already on the most important task: getting better.
I 100% agree with you. Unfortunately, as Uni students, we get stuck in the metaphorical purgatory of suffering and falling behind in school while in school or by doing so at home. I think it's really nice to have teachers such as Ms. Majerus who are patient with us when we actually are sick. Hopefully we can all do our part to make staying home when we actually are sick easier.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great reminder right about now! It's true that it's hard to catch up on work after sickness, but when I get sick the first thing to go is any semblance of productivity, meaning I end up staying up late, stressing just as much as I would if I had to play catch-up, and then getting sicker and sicker and letting my mental health slip as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me to justify skipping school, and it can be even harder for me to convince myself to skip swim practice and morning workouts. However, at the point where I can't speak well or I have a fever and associated headrush, I can justify taking a day off. This is part of why I hate colds: since they don't come with a fever, there's no concrete metric to judge easily how sick I am.
This is so funny because I am trying to push through my sickness right now, to be at school. This is a great blog post because health should be your number one priority but often times we don't want to miss school and get behind. Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great post because it expresses one of the most common problems for Uni students of every grade. Almost everyone has made the choice to come to school a little sick to not miss a quiz or homework assignment, and almost everyone has tried to avoid the classmate that's sneezing and coughing. It's kind of a vicious cycle but I just try to hope it will strengthen my immune system in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI like that you mention at the end to focus on mental health as well as physical health. As sure as I am that this isn't what you meant, I read that as a hint that falling behind can be as bad for your mental health as sickness is to your physical health, though you didn't want to contradict everything you had just said. But that might just be the way I feel about being sick at school. Although, I definitely agree that when other people come to school sick, it makes me fell uncomfortable. Ill people just have a certain foul air about them. I guess I'll think about that the next time I fall ill. Your propaganda blog post is working!
ReplyDeleteI find this post very relatable. I definitely agree with you on many of your points. I loved that you included a question in your second paragraph to really tie in the reader and get them thinking about their experiences. I think that this topic will become more and more relevant as the winter approaches and I hope that people hear your advice!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is currently home sick from school this is a very interesting post. I slept in until the early afternoon, but since then I have been working on stuff that I need to get done for school and for college apps. I hate the idea of being the one who "starts" an illness at school and so I am going to stay home until I get over this.
ReplyDelete