It’s nighttime, and I can feel the virus spread through my body, creeping up my throat and exiting with a weak cough. I know that tomorrow, I will wake up exhausted and sick, and that there is nothing I can do about it. So now the question becomes: should I subject myself to more suffering and risk infecting others for the sake of staying up to date on my schoolwork? While it is a tough decision to make, choosing to bite the bullet and stay home for a day not only helps students’ own health and performance, but also that of the people around them. Even though it seems like a better option to endure it and go to school, containing sickness to one’s own home is the right choice.

We are now in the flu season, and it seems like the virus spreading throughout school is impossible to evade. The fix is simple: don’t come to school when sick. However, the decision is much more complicated. Everybody knows that they can make up classwork by meeting with teachers and getting notes from classmates, but the idea of departing from their daily routine scares students. With first quarter being a crucial time of year for sophomores and juniors, and even more so for seniors, falling behind is simply not an option.

The rigor of a normal school day is already tough enough, and to be sick on top of everything that is expected of us makes school almost unbearable. By the time a sick student gets home, they are ready to collapse. However, due to homework and upcoming tests, that is not an option. To finish their work, many students must stay up late and often do not get nearly as much sleep as a sick person should. The next day, they are exhausted and feel even worse than the day before.

In addition to being in poor physical and mental condition for a longer period of time, a student’s schoolwork will also suffer when they are sick. An inability to focus on work in class and at home can drag the quality of a student’s work far below their standard. Though some might think that grinding through a cold is worth the suffering in exchange for a better grade, it actually ends up having the opposite effect.

Attending school while sick is also inconsiderate to the rest of the school community. Every cough puts even more people at risk of illness, unjustly causing harm to other teachers and students. While it may seem idealistic, if every student stayed home when they got sick, there would be far fewer illnesses spreading throughout campus.

I know it is easy to cast logic aside and go with what, on the surface, seems like the best option (I have done it many times myself), but for the sake of the student body, please put misconceptions aside and make the right choice by staying home when sick.