This year’s flu-season is one to remember for students of St. Lawrence. Warmer weather has arrived, but the infamous sickness often associated with Winter and the cold has still not run its course. Consequently, staff at the St. Lawrence Health Center continue to see students exhibiting a variety of flu-like symptoms. Beyond campus, doctors at the Canton-Potsdam Hospital have had to treat an unprecedented number of patients for influenza from all across St. Lawrence County.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen it. Everyone I know got sick at some point this year and people are still getting sick,” said Hunter Dean ’22 who has lived in Canton his whole life. According to the Canton-Potsdam Hospital, the county has seen 286 cases of influenza in March alone.
Considering not all people who become sick seek medical treatment, the actual number of cases from the month of March is likely much higher.
Dean also discussed his own experience with the flu this year and the impact it had on his school work. “It’s hard to go to class and do work when you’re sick. But if you miss classes, things only get tougher. It’s kind of a snowball effect.” Having dealt with a sore throat and severe cold in early January, Dean said it was difficult to start his second semester of college while he was feeling extremely ill. “I forced myself to go to class when I should’ve been getting rest and trying to get healthy. I really felt like I didn’t have much of a choice though. I didn’t want to get behind.”
Jordan Mamelak ’21, a St. Lawrence Men’s Tennis player, felt similarly challenged by the flu. “As a student-athlete, you have to balance school and sports. Getting sick made it hard to maintain that balance because I felt like I couldn’t really do anything.” Mamelak admitted that he came close to withdrawing from a conference tennis match in March because of a fever and fatigued muscles. Though Mamelak ended up playing, he lost the match, a result he attributes in part to his illness. “I’m not saying I would’ve won, but I wasn’t at full strength and it was hard to stay competitive when I wasn’t feeling well,” he said.
Ultimately, Mamelak went to the Canton-Potsdam hospital to be treated for influenza.
Another student-athlete, Will Livernois ’22 said he nearly went home because of the flu. “This was probably the most sick I’ve felt in a long time.” Livernois, a member of the St. Lawrence Men’s Track and Field team, said he had to deal with headaches and excessive vomiting for a week in early April. “I assumed the flu-season would’ve ended earlier to be honest,” he added.
Regardless of how drastic his illness had become, Livernois, like other sick students, did his best to stay up-to-date in his classes. “I wish the system for missing class was better — if I can’t get out of bed, it would be nice to know I’m not screwed for the next week because I missed a bunch of material.”
Whether it be in the classroom, on the tennis court or anywhere else, the clutch of the flu seems impossible to avoid. But with the academic rigor of St. Lawrence ever present, it appears extremely difficult for students to get the rest they need to be healthy.