It started with a cough. It was a quiet, mostly stifled noise from a student across the room, but it seemed glaringly loud in the silence of the test. Then there was another cough, this time from the opposite side. A sneeze followed from a third student. Eventually the sniffling began, and then it started to feel like each scratch of my pencil was punctuated by hacking from someone in the room. 

I don’t consider myself to be a germaphobe, and I wouldn’t normally be anxious about someone sniffling or coughing in class. Recently, however, it’s been impossible to ignore the rising number of sick students on campus. Even though we are in the middle of the normal cold-and-flu season, the rates of respiratory viruses are exceptionally high this year. Due to having recent illnesses myself, I know how terrible it is to miss out on classwork and extracurriculars, but I implore Westview students: please, stay home from school if you are sick with a fever!

Earlier in the school year, I got sick with a fever twice in the span of three weeks; both times I stayed home until I had fully recovered. I missed a total of six days of school, as well as a weekend band tournament that I had been greatly looking forward to. Like many other students would be, I was concerned about missing class and having to make up a week’s worth of homework on top of the already rigorous workload that our school is known for. Plus, I would have to make up tests and, for band, performance credits without the support of the in-class lessons. Equally worrisome, I would be missing a week of eating lunch with my friends and interacting with my classmates. This critical socialization is something we all love about school, and we can’t just take a test to catch up on what we miss.

I knew that staying home from school would mean I’d miss out on some things, but I remained home because the risks of attending outweigh the benefits. There was the risk of infecting the people around me and forcing them to either stay home from school or attend while feeling miserable. There’s also no way for me to know how an illness would affect someone with a compromised immune system. What might have been a mild case of the flu for me could potentially have caused serious health problems for someone I came into contact with.

Which is to say that while the prospect of facing missed work due to sick days can be daunting, it’s not an insurmountable task. With this year’s added Wednesday Wolverine Time, plus the online resources available for most classes, it is possible to contact teachers and formulate a plan to stay on top of your work. I was also pleasantly surprised by how willing my friends and classmates were to text me about what I missed each day to help me keep up.

While individual students should be more accountable, the school administration could be doing more to ensure students remain at home when they are sick. One option could be to reintroduce the scanning thermometers and check students for a fever at the gates. It’s also imperative that parents are explicitly reminded about academic policies surrounding illnesses, including extension days and individual accommodations that would prevent students from falling behind.

Most people would prefer to be home resting and recovering when they’re sick instead of having to come to school to work all day. Despite the added stress of having to catch up on missed lessons, when able, staying home will allow you to recover faster and reduce the risk of getting your fellow students sick. At the very least, if you absolutely have to come to school when you do not feel well, please remember the importance of wearing masks to help reduce the spread of illnesses.