As we get into the colder months, sickness season is coming. Sickness can be very hard for students to manage while juggling school, sports, work and other extracurriculars. As students get colds, the flu and other sicknesses, it can be hard for them to stay motivated and focus.
Many students said that the first thing they do when they are sick is communicate with their professors. If a student is too sick to attend class, they can contact their professors to find out what they missed and what needs to be done. Junior Onyinyechi Dimgba said, “Emailing your teachers to get work and seeing if it can be done and virtually is the best idea. Also seeing if you can get extra credit work because of missing class is something I do.”
Students can check Canvas to see assignments posted for what work to do, watch recorded lessons and see posted slideshows and communicate with other peers.
Sophomore Jessica Sibenik said, “I check online school with Canvas to see what work was uploaded and needs to be done.” Sibenik also said she emails teachers about work missed during class time when she gets sick.
Another good tactic to stay on pace while sick is looking back at notes. First-year Shaunah Bracken said, “I email my teachers to try to stay on track, but I look at previous notes and ask for the recent class notes that I would have missed.” This can help the student who was absent understand the material before returning to the next class.
Trying to finish homework while feeling unwell can make it harder to recover. Students like first-years Brendon Campbell and Isabella Erickson said that even when they are sick, they still go to class to make sure they don’t fall behind because the stress of that overpowers them. “I still go to class even if I don’t feel 100 unless I am super contagious,” Erickson shared.
Barbara Berthiaume, chief medical officer and director of the Wellness Center, provided what she thinks are good practices for students to have while being on campus during sick season.
“Making sure you’re getting plenty of sleep, drinking lots and lots of fluids, taking care of yourself both mentally and physically,” Berthiaume said. “Getting exercise, making sure that you’re doing self check-ins as far as your overall wellness goes and your mental health and then just trying to avoid others when they are sick the best you can and most importantly good hand hygiene so washing your hands regularly.”
Robert Free can be contacted at
robert.free@keene.edu
