The past few weeks I’ve been sick off and on, and stupid me just assumed it was a cold and tried to tough it out and go to my classes. I did end up missing a few though, most especially my calc III class twice. I hated doing it, but I could barely get out of bed and shower, much less hike across campus in the snow (gotta love upstate New York!). This morning though, I passed out for about 20 seconds in the bathroom stall, and finally, seeing that something more serious was up, got a friend to take me to the health center. Turns out I have the flu, as well as a moderate ear infection that is throwing me off balance and a fever. I’ve been sleeping on and off all day today, and I slept a lot this weekend. The nurse at the health center told me to take it easy the next couple of days and prescribed me an arsenal of drugs, all of which I am taking like a good girl. The only issue is, I have my first calculus exam tomorrow of the semester, and I don’t know if I’ll be ready tomorrow for it, both health-wise and content-wise due to those missed classes. Should I contact the professor and tell him what’s going on? Should I ask to not take the exam until later in the week? Or should I tough it out, go take the test, and be almost guaranteed to bomb it? There are five tests this semester, and each is worth 20 percent of my grade. Even if I bomb one test, I can easily save my grade. Please help me!
Took an IQ test once with the flu and it turns out it isn’t a total disaster. There’s no question you take a hit, but it it’s better than a zero, assuming you and the professor can’t agree on a make-up plan. What’s more concerning is the ear infection as you can make that worse if the antibiotics aren’t taking hold yet.
First step is contacting the professor about your options.
I missed every one of my midterms in my sophomore year due to being in the infirmary with the flu and 104º fever.
The profs all let me make them up.
I agree with the advice to contact the teacher.
Definitely email the teacher. I expect you are contagious and neither the professor, nor any of the other students want you ‘toughing it out’ to take the test (that you probably cannot effectively prepare for at this point anyway). It is good that you’ve been to the health center and have an official diagnosis. 