As I begin my fourth week at the University of Iowa – wow, time flies – I am so grateful I made the decision to come to this college. My start here, however, was nothing but rough…
My mother and I drove down the day of move-in. I, of course, was already very sad about leaving my home and family, venturing to a big campus and beginning college, but I was ready for a new adventure. As I drove out of my hometown, I had gotten a bagel and coffee from the local coffee shop to start my drive off well; however, as I went to eat and drink my treats, I physically could not get them down. I began dry heaving and threw up in my mouth (gross, I know), and did not eat or drink the whole four-hour drive down. I decided this stomach issue was just my body reacting to nerves.
I finally arrived at campus, in awe, and headed to my dorm building, Rienow Hall. My mother and I had driven separately, and the majority of my items were in my car, so I was in charge of parking at the dorm’s unloading site. As I went to park, my bad luck started. I hit the car next to me… It was not bad (by my standards), but I did full-on side-swipe the car. So all at once, I was struggling to back up my car, call my mom, and give this family my phone number. I was a mess. I got everything sorted out, found my mom – thank goodness – and moved into my dorm. However, my troubles did not stop there.
My first night and following day went fine. I moved in Saturday, so my first day (Sunday) was easy, as On Iowa! had not really begun yet. However, throughout the day, I felt sicker and sicker; by nightfall I started to develop a fever. I took some medicine and went to bed, but my roommate stayed up and checked my temperature every 15 minutes. My fever got up to 104.7 degrees and stayed there for almost 30 minutes. My roommate kept giving me medicine cocktails and was ready to haul me to the ER if my fever persisted. Finally, it broke around 1 AM, and I woke up in the morning with only a slight fever. I threw up, took a shower, and passed out until 12pm, waking up like a new woman. It was like I had never been sick.
I ended up enjoying the rest of my On Iowa! week, not getting sick again, and transitioning to being a college student.
Thanks for reading!
Danica
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