How To Avoid Sickness At College

We all know that college is a place that can consist of not enough sleep, too much socialising and possibly not the most healthy meals. This is a recipe for sickness. If you want to avoid the common cold, especially if it is making the rounds throughout the dorms, here are a few things to keep in mind in order to avoid sickness at college.

Water

Something I am personally very bad at remembering to do, both in college and out of it, is drink water! Drinking water is not always a basic instinct for everyone. Trying to drink plenty of water each and every day will help to keep your body hydrated and ensure that you are warding off sickness, like a common cold. Yes, you will probably have to pee 100 times per day, but it is worth it if you don’t get sick. Try to get your hands on a big size drink bottle, something that is roughly a litre or more. If you can get through one or more of those per day, you are kicking goals!

Fruit and Veg

College is the place where you find yourself surviving on protein bars and instant noodles. This can be a great time to discover ways to make instant noodles different every day, BUT it is not healthy in the slightest. If you can, try your hardest to have fruit and veg every day. This can be tough, and no the dehydrated pea’s that come in the cup of instant noodles, don’t count. Vitamin C is going to be your best friend if you want to keep illness at bay. Just buy a bag of oranges and have one with your breakfast every day. Don’t start stressing that you can’t afford an endless supply of fresh fruit and veg every week, just buy what you can afford. Swap your choice of fruit or veg for the bag of chips you were going to buy. This is a sure-fire way to help avoid sickness at college.

Sleep

Sleeping at college can go one of two ways, you either sleep past all of your alarms and miss your morning classes because you are in a deep, coma-like sleep. Or if you are like me, you get woken up by the constant sound of music, doors slamming and people talking. If you said a big YES to the second option, you need to try to get the most restful nights sleep you can, as often as your body will allow. Invest in a sleep mask to block out any light, and chuck in some earplugs to block out any noises. You will feel like you are all alone and nothing and no one will disturb your slumber. Sleep is how your body recharges and recovers from the day, if you don’t get enough sleep, I cant guarantee you will be run down in no time and the sickness will follow soon after, and no one wants that.

Self Care

If you are feeling like the constant partying and socialising is taking its toll on your energy levels, there is no shame in giving a party a miss and having some quality You time. There will always be more parties (and yes I know that sounds like a classic parent line) but it’s true. Have a quiet night in by yourself every now and then, watch a movie in bed and go to sleep early. Recharge your batteries and you will be ready to go for the next party. This is necessary to avoid sickness.

Wash Your Hands!

This may sound like a given, but wash your hands! Wash them more often than you think is necessary, college kids are dirty. There is no sugar coating it. Whenever you come back from a class, wash your hands. Whenever you return to the dorm, just make it a habit to wash your hands. This is basic but absolutely necessary to stop spreading the germs.