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FeDeX_LaTeX
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I'm about to enter my third year of university, and in both my first and second years, I've always got the infamous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshers'_Flu]Freshers'[/PLAIN] Flu. Wikipedia says this:
So in my first year, I got ill for the first week, felt fine for the second week, then got ill again and missed the third week. During those times, I missed almost the full 5 days of the week, having flu-like symptoms and being mostly bed-ridden for the first few days. I was then fine for the rest of the year, until my second year.
In my second year, *exactly* the same thing happened, in the same pattern. I got ill in the first week. Then, I felt better in the second week, then got ill again, missing the third week. Haven't been ill since.
I don't like to generalise with a sample size of 2, but I reckon exactly the same thing is going to happen when I start my third year in a few weeks' time. So, what can I do?
There's an optional 'induction' lecture shortly before term starts, which mostly just repeats information that is already available on my university's website. I go to this every year, but I'm pretty sure this is when I catch it (I always get ill, two days later when I go home). I'm thinking of not going this year, but by doing that, I miss out on a chance to get the illness early. So what can I do? Here are some things I've thought of doing:
-Sitting by myself as much as possible
-Wearing a facemask and gloves when I attend the induction lecture
-Deliberately going to a populated location which will feature a lot of international students, such as train stations close to my university
-Calling up my friend so we can hang out, while I try to catch whatever illnesses he may be carrying well in advance of term starting
-Taking some kind of pills that can give me an 'immunity boost'
Are any of these 'tactics' viable? I really don't want to miss the first and third weeks of lectures again, especially not in arguably my most important year. What do people think of the idea of deliberately hanging around populated areas to catch an illness, before term starts?
Freshers' Flu is the name commonly given to a battery of illnesses contracted by as many as 90%[1] of new students during the first few weeks at a university,[2] in some form; common symptoms include fever, sore throat, severe headache, coughing and general discomfort .[3] The illnesses may or may not include actual flu, and is often simply a bad cold, but is so named simply due to alliteration. This is mostly a British term, and is rarely heard outside the UK and Ireland.
...
The most likely cause is the convergence of large numbers of people arriving from all over the world, many of whom carry pathogens to which they are immune, but others have not had a chance to acquire the necessary immunity.
So in my first year, I got ill for the first week, felt fine for the second week, then got ill again and missed the third week. During those times, I missed almost the full 5 days of the week, having flu-like symptoms and being mostly bed-ridden for the first few days. I was then fine for the rest of the year, until my second year.
In my second year, *exactly* the same thing happened, in the same pattern. I got ill in the first week. Then, I felt better in the second week, then got ill again, missing the third week. Haven't been ill since.
I don't like to generalise with a sample size of 2, but I reckon exactly the same thing is going to happen when I start my third year in a few weeks' time. So, what can I do?
There's an optional 'induction' lecture shortly before term starts, which mostly just repeats information that is already available on my university's website. I go to this every year, but I'm pretty sure this is when I catch it (I always get ill, two days later when I go home). I'm thinking of not going this year, but by doing that, I miss out on a chance to get the illness early. So what can I do? Here are some things I've thought of doing:
-Sitting by myself as much as possible
-Wearing a facemask and gloves when I attend the induction lecture
-Deliberately going to a populated location which will feature a lot of international students, such as train stations close to my university
-Calling up my friend so we can hang out, while I try to catch whatever illnesses he may be carrying well in advance of term starting
-Taking some kind of pills that can give me an 'immunity boost'
Are any of these 'tactics' viable? I really don't want to miss the first and third weeks of lectures again, especially not in arguably my most important year. What do people think of the idea of deliberately hanging around populated areas to catch an illness, before term starts?
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