<p>One thing I did not think about going into was getting sick. Think about it, you're entering a dense packed area with students from all over the world. I personally have gotten sick 4 times during my freshman year. I advise you to remember to wash your hands and try to avoid sick people - especially during flu season. Make sure to bring some cough drops, cough medicine, Advil, Tylenol, etc.</p>
<p>During finals week I came down with a stomach bug which I suspect was from bad food. So watch out when you're hungry at 10pm, don't go to the sandwich shop that stores its meat and vegetables out for the entire day.</p>
<p>I got a lot of colds and stuff last year, I think it was mostly from being in a dorm. But I used a lot of things that kind of kill your immune system so I think I got sick more often than the average person. It’s worth thinking about though, buy some travel bottles of Purell and use them! When you’re sharing a bathroom you can get sick quickly.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten legitimately sick twice in my 5 (going on 6!) years of dorm living. Here’s what you should do: </p>
<ul>
<li>Have a thermometer so you can monitor your fever (and go to the health center if it starts climbing very high)</li>
<li>Have advil, tylenol, benadryl, etc. </li>
<li>Have a stash of “sick food” under your bed (gatorade, 2-liter of ginger ale, couple cans of soup, saltines, etc) and/or bribe someone to get some for you.</li>
<li>Crawl home if you can and have your parents take care of you. It’s so much better to be sick at home, so if this is an option, USE IT!</li>
</ul>
<p>My freshman year there was a swine flu outbreak. Apparently my aunt who works for the government got emails about the outbreak at UMD where almost 50 students and staff got sick…What these emails left out was that this is 50 in a population of 50,000.
I was fine because I’m from one of the first US county’s hit and got the Tamiflu while it was still in high supply (my mother and sister both got it, and I’ve got a compromised immune system)
Other than that usually a cold will travel through a group of friends, especially those that party together. Being sick is not avoidable but you need to learn to only not go to class if you’re a. really contagious (ie swine flu) or b. going to just fall asleep and not get anything out of it when you’re there.
You can’t let being sick let you fall behind unless you are sick enough to go to the hospital.</p>
<p>I actually got sick maybe three or four time sthis year, which is unusual for me since I never get sick. I was seriously sick in the winter, though - bronchitis went around my dorm and I unfortunately caught it and was out for a while. Still, I think in general, you should follow the usual procedures - always wash your hands, don’t share shotglasses, etc. - and you’ll be alright. </p>
<p>I think the reason it was worse for me is because I was stressed, and wasn’t able to get a lot of sleep because of the immense amount of schoolwork I had. This is another hidden reason why I think college students get sick more easily - they don’t sleep a lot on weekdays, and on weekends usually they drink/smoke/etc. (not judging - obviously I do this too - just saying), which cimpromises the immune system. Sometimes it’s best to just tough it out and take rest where you can get it.</p>
<p>I was sick almost constantly last year. The health center, the reliability of which is suspect, said they thought I probably got a virus in September that wiped out my system and that I kept getting hit again because I never slept enough to shake it off. One thing I wont miss about college. I got sick like every other week during the winter semester and had three colds in the fall. uuuuugh.</p>
<p>I want to echo reesezpiecez103’s and Emaheevul07’s comments about sleep. I too have found that I am much more prone to get sick when I don’t get enough sleep. Furthermore, I can usually fend off a cold in its early stages by heading straight back to bed and catching up on overdue sleep. The few times I have gotten really sick happened when I kept depriving myself of sleep after the onset of illness.</p>
<p>It’s also much easier to focus on schoolwork when you are well-rested! :)</p>