As another winter comes to a close, many are reflecting not on the snow but on the severity of the flu season. According to many sources, including ABC news, the flu season this year showed as many as 26 times more victims then last year.

The largest problem that the flu presents for students is its debilitating ability to sit someone on the couch or in their beds for days at a time. Vomiting is harder to deal with in public then, say, the sniffles.

However, the flu is not the only sickness out there that can force a student indoors. Recently I fell victim to gastroenteritis, which is a long name that covers any type of stomach or intestinal irritation. I do not know exactly what I had, but I believe it may have been food poisoning.

As a senior going into college, I would like to think that I am immune to just about any type of harm, but I was proven how wrong I was when I spent a whole weekend curled up on my couch, feeling miserable.

The one thing I was happy for was the fact that my parents had been there with me. Nothing, not even a spoon full of Pepto-Bismol, is more reassuring then a parent when you are sick.

Ironically, I had gotten ill just hours after a visit to a college. What would I have done if, instead of returning home, I had stayed at the college and spent my day’s sick in a dorm?

My advice today is for everyone to appreciate the parent that sticks around and takes care of you when you are sick. They are one of the little thing in life that you will eventually have to live without.