Masochism at Play

At the start each of our college careers we are warned excessively about the importance of protecting ourselves from the germs in our new environment. As always, signs are posted around campus warning us to wash our hands, cover our coughs, and-most importantly this year it seems-to see a doctor at the first sign of flu-like symptoms. Unfortunately, as goodhearted as these warnings are they are not always enough. I must take a moment here to explain that while I try hard to follow these rules, still I am not the most healthy of 19 year olds. I rarely work out, aside from walking up and down the hill to class, I sleep deprive myself like most college students and as a female am ridiculously addicted to chocolate( mainly of the dark variety)and many other sweets.

Now, I know I cannot be the only person in the world who has these and other unhealthy habits. However, I am convinced that I am the only person capable of getting sick every two weeks on the mark. You see, the previous school semester (coincidentally my first college semester) I had the following illnesses: stomach bug, cold (eh, no biggie, right?), flu- which was actually the swine flu (I got you interested with that one,yes?), respiratory infection-a.k.a. a cough that lasted FOREVER, I'm sure there was another cold about this time, and a kidney infection during finals. In a period of about 4 months, that is approximately every two weeks that I was sick. Oh, wait I am not done. Think this sounds ridiculous enough yet? Well, I just recently got some blood work done and found out I have the Epstein-Barr virus. For those of you that don't know, this virus is more affectionately know as Mononucleosis- or Mono. It is inactive at the moment, but the doctor tells me I had it last semester for sure. I found myself laughing at the the absurdity of it all- I mean what are the odds of getting sick that many times and with that many major infections? While the flu, a kidney infection, and Mono are not the worst infections to get, they are all of the variety to greatly fatigue you and thus make college living slightly more complicated (or as I take it at this point: slightly more comical to look back on).

So, for the following semester I have these quandaries: Can I make it a whole two weeks without getting sick? Will I make it the whole semester without any other major infections to add to my repertoire? Or will my seemingly masochistic immune system get the better of me? Regardless, I invite you to enjoy the absurdities of my life as I live among the healthier kind.