by Ava Stringer ’28 on September 24, 2026
Opinion
You’ve heard the whispers of it by now. It starts with a raspy voice, a wet cough, and someone in your 8:30 a.m. class hacking up a lung. This is a strong opinion, but the Friar Flu is worse than the Black Death. I’m about to buy a beaked plague doctor mask off of Amazon. What starts in senior house basements ends with your ability to breathe through your nose gone for the rest of the semester. I have the immune system of a Victorian England child, so my mom sent me to college with an apothecary that can treat any and every ailment. In other words, I came prepared. And you should too.
College is basically a breeding ground for whatever illness is making its rounds. We live in shared spaces, sit in cramped classrooms, use communal bathrooms, and spend most of our days around other people. Then, add a full course load, homework, jobs, extracurriculars, and a social life. It’s better to have a pharmacy drawer in your dorm than feverishly stumble to the CVS on Admiral Street. Keep tissues, cough drops, cold medicine, and whatever else you know you will reach for when you feel awful. If you somehow escape the Friar Flu, one of your less-prepared friends will eventually show up at your door asking if you have something for a sore throat.
Take care of the basics, too. Eat actual food, drink water, and get enough sleep. Vitamin C and zinc can be part of your routine, but they are not a force field against getting sick. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but coffee and energy drinks cannot be your entire hydration plan. Drink water. Make tea when your throat feels like sandpaper. Eat fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, and protein when you can.
This does not mean becoming the person who meal preps seven containers of chicken every Sunday. We are college students. Sometimes dinner is fries. Sometimes lunch is whatever you can grab between classes. Just try not to make coffee and whatever has been sitting in your desk drawer for three weeks your entire diet. Most importantly, let yourself rest. You are not going to miss a semester’s worth of memories because you stayed in on a Friday. Or a Thursday. Or, perish the thought, a Wednesday.
Get some sleep. Staying up until 2 a.m. doomscrolling on TikTok might involve lying in bed, but that does not make it restorative. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is go to sleep. If you wake up feeling better, eat breakfast and do your most urgent work first. Then give yourself permission to stop. You do not have to finish every assignment and attend every event while your body is trying to recover.
And if you are going to miss class, communicate with your professors. Send an email before the last possible second. If you need an extension, ask before the deadline. Professors are much more understanding when you communicate honestly than when you send an 11:59 p.m. email that sounds like a textbook excuse.
One missed class is not going to ruin your semester. If you are genuinely sick, use the resources you already have. Go to the Health Center if your symptoms are severe, getting worse, or refusing to improve. Do not convince yourself that suffering through an illness is somehow more impressive than getting help.
Getting sick during the school year is inevitable. But we are surprisingly determined to act like it cannot happen to us. You are going to get sick. Your roommate is going to get sick. The person sitting next to you in class is probably already sick and pretending they are not. The Friar Flu is coming. You might as well have some tissues ready.