Originally published on May 29, 2017
I spent a lot of this semester trying to do better with
procrastination and reducing everyday stresses in all aspects of my school
life. Despite getting projects done in advance and feeling prepared for exams
and performances, this is the second semester in a row where days after the
semester is over and I am able to completely relax and have no obligations to
anything…I get sick. I’m sure I’m not the only person this has happened to, and
it is just so fascinating to me, how I am able to stay healthy throughout the
semester, maybe a touch of a cold here or there, but as soon as the semester is
over and I have put all thoughts of school from my mind I become sick.
And this is actually a real thing that people have been
studying more in recent years. I have always been warned that getting too
stressed will make me sick, but I was always more concerned about getting sick
while stressed, adding more stress. This has happened to me a few times in the
past, when I was younger. When stressful times in the semester come, I found
myself saying, “I won’t be surprised if I wake up sick tomorrow.” That is why I
was so surprised it manifested in such a different way now that I am older.
It all comes down to how the body naturally reacts to
stress. Some chemicals the body releases can trigger different illnesses after
a few days, things that may have already been in your system. There are also
the chemicals that suppress pain during stress disappearing after stress. Basically,
during stress, your body is thrown into a completely different chemical state
than when relaxed. The longer you are stressed, the more shocking the “letdown”
after stress is going to be. All the bugs brought in by your stressfully
weakened immune system now have a chance to be made known, and boy do they come
out!
So here’s the takeaway I got from spending the better part
of my only week off this summer curled up with a fever: I could do better. I
could do better with reducing my stress and being even more prepared (there
were some exams I had to drag my feet to get myself to study for…and maybe they
weren’t as good as they could have been). Relaxation is not bad; in fact, for
someone coming off of such a high energy semester, it is a good thing. I think
I might have overdone this semester, the months of March and April in
particular, and never really had more than a day or two to relax before another
homework assignment popped up. Perhaps that is the life of a college student.
Now that I have experienced this twice, I will be looking out for it next
semester. Three’s a pattern, and I am determined to break this pattern.
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