Being sick AND INJURED?!
Now that we’re a few weeks into the semester, Vanderbilt students are getting the true college welcome: the Commons Plague. Even though I am a sophomore, I was not immune this year, and the sniffles, sore throat, and fevers have begun. Getting sick is an almost inescapable part of communal living – you’re close to so many new people all the time, and your mom isn’t around reminding you not to touch the dirty door knob and use hand sanitizer. Thankfully, coping with the illness itself isn’t that bad, especially with the help of the Student Health Center, great new friends, and your RA’s if necessary.
Alas, a cold was just the beginning of my struggles this week. Yesterday, while I was doing my nightly routine, I stepped down hard on some sharp object that punctured my heel, and is still embedded in my skin as I type this. Now, that doesn’t sound too bad, but I faint at the sight of blood, so that definitely made the situation much worse. As much as my suitemate and I pulled and tweezed at the object it would not come out, and the blood was just gushing out as I continued to faint. At the moment, my one thought was “Oh my gosh, where is my mom,” but I’m so glad my suitemate Riley was there to make sure I would be okay. We eventually realized it was best to go to the Student Health Center the next morning, and let the professionals take care of it.
Up until today I had never been to Student Health, and I was really impressed with the service. I walked in around 10:05 without an appointment, and they called me in at 10:10, which is better than the 20 minute wait I usually have at my home doctor’s office, where I actually schedule appointments. The nurse practitioner tried her best to get the unknown object out, but it was embedded so deeply in there that the only option would be making incisions to cut it out. The problem is that, as a college student, the primary means of transportation is walking everywhere, and cutting my heel open would make that difficult. So I’m kind of in a less than appealing situation, but we will try again tomorrow, so fingers crossed.
Now before you’re like “Okay…so…” at my pity party, I promise there is a point to this! In college, you will face really annoying situations and not want to deal with them, but because you’re away from home, without your parents to help, you will have to deal with them anyway, like an adult [insert grimace here]. The good thing is there are people everywhere who will want to help. Whether it’s your roommate, your RA, your new friend, the Student Health Center, or honestly even the dining worker serving you your eggs that morning. At Vanderbilt, people do care about you, and that’s a great feeling.