When looking around your classes this flu season, do you notice something different? Perhaps you notice a few more desks are empty than usual. That would be because sicknesses has been running rampant recently, causing many students to miss school. If you have not been sick, then you probably know someone else who was.

The harshness of the season has resulted in a range of illnesses, like influenza, strep throat and stomach viruses attacking student immune systems. When sicknesses hit, students should go home so that the student can better recover. However, students will often stay at school longer than they should, or they come back sooner than they should, because of the extra stress that results from missing school.

Sophomore Carolyn Schneck had the stomach flu, and had to miss school for a day and a half.

“I had the chills, I had a sore throat and a stomachache… On Monday I stayed for the majority of the day because I didn’t want to miss something important, but then I left because I felt awful and couldn’t keep going,” Schneck said.

Students also run the risk of spreading their nasty illness to others by staying at school when they are sick.

Sophomore Stephen Luancing also had to miss school for sickness, and the stress he endures from missing school is not helping him recover. He also chose to come back before he was completely healthy.

“I had a sore throat, sweaty eyes, very high fever, a cold, cough, and was lightheaded. I came back when I was still sick because school is important,” Luancing said.

Another sophomore, who happens to sit next to Luancing in science, Sam Caldwell, missed school for three days because of his illness.

“I was extremely sick and had a very sore throat. I came back when I was still sick because I can’t miss more school. I needed to get homework caught up and make up tests,” Caldwell said.

Senior Corrine Rogers was also forced to stay home from school when she fell ill from a stomach virus.

“I missed Wed. and Thurs., so I missed the new schedule, so I don’t really know what’s going on. I actually missed a lot of important things and I don’t have the motivation to redo it, so my grades are struggling,” Rogers said.

All in all, the sicknesses present students with more stress and another challenge. Most are forced to stay home, at least for a little while, in order to recover enough to come back to school. Then, they have to manage their time, make-up tests and assignments, and communicate with their teachers so that they can keep their grades up.