Chief Editor's Note: Sick Days
As I’m writing this, I have spent the last couple of days at home with a fever, with only my blankets and Sims let’s play -videos keeping me company. I live alone so thankfully no one else is getting sick, and I’ve had freedom to do whatever I have the energy for. Well, almost. Sick days have more downsides than just the whole… being sick part. And I know this is a somewhat subjective take, because some people do not experience the same levels of anxiety and so on, but you understand my point regardless. So, another downside to being sick is that I’m still stressed about reading course materials, writing lecture notes and assignments, meeting deadlines and planning ahead for break week.
I try not to. Generally I schedule my days carefully and follow that schedule as closely as possible. Usually I start my day early, get to campus and stay there until at least 3 PM. And when I get home I finish up work for the day, cook dinner, take a shower, do some reading and go to bed. The next day I wake up and do the same thing. I try to keep my weekends free by keeping a tight schedule. But getting sick during the week means that I still have to somehow engage in my studies. For some courses that might mean just emailing the teacher to inform them that I’m sick and that is all, some teachers tell me to get lecture notes from another student just in case and some send me extra work to compensate for my absence in some way.
So, even when I’m sick, the time I have on my hands isn’t mine to spend as I wish. I have to keep up with topics, reading, notes and possibly deadlines before I get better. As a student, it feels like most of the time I have isn’t mine at all, and unfortunately that includes the days when I’m sick. I love what I do at uni and I cannot wait to see what I get to do over the years, but I would like to have a bit more time to take care of myself. I can barely make time for housework, meeting up with friends and seeing family or even resting, relaxing and unwinding all by myself. Now that I’ve been sick in bed for a few days and forced to stay put a lot, I feel more well rested than I have in ages. Physically, at least. I have still had to worry about my courses, so the stress hasn’t faded much.
It doesn’t help that it’s increasingly difficult to be a student. It’s increasingly difficult to survive, let alone live on the benefits students receive and in turn we must look elsewhere for money, but it is increasingly difficult to find any sources of income in this economy. All of that is an additional layer of stress we have to endure at all times, so getting sick also means calling off from work, which then means that we have less money at the end of the month. And I have had a lot of time to think about this, since I’ve been practically unable to get out of bed for two days. I wish students had more time to just live and have fun to get more energy to learn and explore the topics they want to. The pressure we feel from multiple sides is overall too much and I think we need more time for us. We must bear some responsibility and keep ourselves on track, of course, but not to the level of losing sleep over how many sick days we might be able to afford. You see, when I’m sick, I’d much prefer to drink tea and read books. And that’s exactly what I plan to do.
Luckily, I’ve gotten to spend some time on this new issue of BTSB instead of just stressing about assignments. And what an array we have this time! Rasmus and Sini give us suspenseful and intriguing short stories. Valo writes a gorgeous poem for the moon, while Noa explores ideas of self-worth and self-love. Anni shares thoughts on dreams and yearning with us, and I interviewed two of Sub’s presidents. Last but certainly not least, Minja writes two poems full of love and its effects. We hope you enjoy this issue and share some of your time with us! Now, I’ll go back to bed with some herbal tea.
