COVID-19 in College
The Corona Virus has made a colossal impact on the world. Effecting thousands of college students, COVID-19 has shut down many campuses. Virtual learning has become our new normal… whether we like it or not.
I am currently a senior. This year was supposed to be my best one yet! I planned to make my last year, as a student, the most memorable. Unfortunately, social distancing has forced my plans out the window. We are all just trying to have fun and stay safe, right? We want to go out with friends, travel for spring break, and everything else college students do!
But what happens if you test positive for COVID-19? Are professors lenient if homework extensions are needed?
Let me answer these for you. As a college student, I tested positive in the second week of September. Initially, I was terrified. This meant I had to quarantine, away from my friends, not see my family, and still up-keep my grades.
Truthfully, I don’t think I could have balanced COVID-19 with my classes if my University didn’t switch to online courses. The flexibility kept me on my feet, and to my surprise, my professors understood too.
After my experience, here is a list of tips I KNOW helped me during my recovery:
- Stay Hydrated. Even with a common cold or the flu, it is SO important to stay hydrated. Juice and water are filled with vitamins that speed up the recovery process. Liquids also cleanse the body of any toxins, like COVID.
- Sleep Sleep Sleep! I cannot stress this enough. SLEEP. Make sure your body is getting enough rest. Sleep is a critical time in the body’s healing process. It increases not only physical health but mental health as well. This is probably my favorite tip. I mean, how much convincing does it take to get a college student to sleep more? It was the best part of my quarantine! Sit back, binge watch Netflix, and relax!
- Eat nutritious foods. Along with juices, its also crucial to keep up with fruits and veggies. When I had COVID I lost my taste and smell, which made it challenging to hold an appetite. Nutritious foods keep energy levels high, along with helping your body recover quicker.
- Medicate. Luckily, my symptoms weren’t extensive. However, I did experience headaches and body aches. This is my reminder; it’s okay to medicate! Tylenol is preferred during COVID and goes a long way. Why suffer if you can help medicate yourself from home!
- Homework. Even if your energy is low. The best part of online classes is creating your own workspace at home. The key is to keep your sleep space and workspace separate. I keep my desk organized and clean to stay motivated to work. COVID drained my energy and motivation to work on school work. However, I found that when I “chunked” my assignments into smaller portions, I was able to channel my energy into spurts. Save your motivation for the most important tasks! (To-Do lists also helped me a ton).
7 Comments
Sam Meier
Hello Brianna,
I think I may have had COVID-19 back in February, so I can relate to your tips about recovery from it. I found that getting enough water was the most important tip because I lost so much fluid as a result of COVID-19. I also always sleep a lot when I am sick, so that helped too. It was harder for me to keep up with my classes when not many people knew about it, but I also am not positive I had it.
Lindsey Buchanan
Hi Brianna,
I loved this post. Not only did you tie in your personal experience, but you gave some helpful insights on what to do if you get covid! I loved the number list of important aspects to attain when you have covid. This can help others who also are infected with the virus, to give helpful insight on what to do, and how to balance school while being sick! By the way I love the colors you picked for your website, also the layout is amazing and easy to use 🙂
Anna Lichtie
This is such a timely message and one that all college students can relate to and needs to hear. You did a great job making content that was relevant and I liked to hear what you had to say. It was a great post!
Christian Olivera
Hey Brianna,
Coming from another senior, I totally know how you feel about wanting this year to be the best one yet. With most of campus being totally shut down it’s almost impossible to feel like we are actually in college. Thankfully I never tested positive for COVID, I’m sorry to hear that you did though. Love the list of some of the things you did while you tried to recover though, I’m still going to consider doing these things a lot more so the risk of me testing positive goes lower!
Brianna Olstad
I couldn’t agree more; this year has not felt like we are actually in college. I keep hoping things will be better by second semester, but at this point, you never know. Thank you for your feedback!
Julianne Gantar
Hi Brianna,
This post stuck out to me as very relatable. As I am also a Senior this year, this isn’t the way we expected the school year to go on and my friends and I wanted this to be the last year of fun before the real world. COVID has taught us safer ways to engage in social events and social settings. I also got COVID during the first week of September and I must say all of your tips you mentioned in your posts are things I was doing while recovering trying to stay healthy. I look forward reading more of your posts for the College Survival Guide!
Brianna Olstad
I’m sorry you also got COVID this year. But I’m glad our advice lined up. I remember being so nervous about the unknown. Even though I am overall healthy, I still was not sure how my immune system would react. COVID has 100% sucked but has also provided a lot of lessons. Thank you for your feedback!