It’s not like a solar eclipse or Hadley’s comet, it’s the annual convergence between flu season and first-semester exams. Lucky enough for us, nature dropped a new addition on the menu of discontent four years ago, in the form of Covid-19. Unless humanity manages to eradicate the most common seasonal viruses or the earth’s hemispheres flip, it is a problem we must contend with as long as the school year begins in Autumn.  

Inevitably, there is a cost-benefit analysis within every fevered mind: the need to balance the benefits of attending a class where material is likely to be more complex as the semester wraps up and the cost of potentially infecting your classmates, neglecting rest and recovery, and having to face a long day in a fatigued state. Moreover, professors still need cold call victims and a dwindling pool of targets only increases the burden of each unwilling participant. Finally, professors are more likely to drop hints at what will be covered in the exam the following month.  

While losing an entire week of class may seem unrealistic, there are ways to reasonably mitigate the damage so that less class time will be missed and you can stay caught up while at home:

• First and foremost, go visit a doctor you trust and follow their recommendations faithfully. Just as you hope your future clients will heed your advice, it behooves you to grant the same deference when the shoe is on the other foot.
• Second, ask your friends and colleagues for their class notes and offer to pay the favor back.
• Finally, if your professors or their TAs do not upload class recordings in a timely fashion, reach out and ask them to please update the recording as soon as possible. This will help you keep up! Just make sure it’s a respectful request. 

If you’re feeling under the weather this season, I wish you the best in recovery. If nothing else, take this time as an excuse to have guilt-free rest and an opportunity to come back refreshed and motivated for the home stretch.

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Alex Mostaghimi is a first-year student at BC Law. Contact him at mostagha@bc.edu.