I miss being a child. I really do. Waking up to belly rubs and kisses instead of blaring alarms feels like a luxury long gone.
I long for the time when the only problem I had in the world was trying to go everywhere my parents went, I miss not having to decide what to eat for every meal, and just a week ago I missed not having to go for a medical appointment on my own. These little comforts of childhood now seem like distant memories, replaced by the demands of adult life.
While my friends couldn’t wait to grow up, I always secretly treasured my childhood.
As the second-born, I had a front-row seat to my older sister’s gradual departure from the carefree years we once shared and it never seemed as glorious as everyone raved it was.
I noticed how she played less and less. She no longer watched the shows that we had both loved and had been obsessed with, she no longer laughed at silly little things like we used to.
Adulthood seemed like a scam, and I wanted no association with it.
But yet there I was last Friday, exactly where I have always feared I’d be. Sitting ALONE in the sterile, waiting room of campus health services, I couldn’t help but reflect on how far I’ve come from those carefree days.
Doctor appointments have always been awful, but for the first time, I felt awfully cold sitting there alone after struggling to sign myself in and understanding what was required of me. I tell you,
sitting alone in a waiting room waiting to be called in is now on the list of experiences I hate.
Why was I at campus health, you may ask? To get vaccine shots, but I can happily say that waiting to be called in was the last of the awful experiences because once I was called, I was attended to by a truly wonderful nurse.
She made me feel as though I was no longer alone for the visit. In addition to her sweet persona, she had an aura I can only describe as motherly. She was the first person to clearly explain why I was there and why I needed the vaccines, and took the time to describe how each of the three vaccines would feel once administered.
We rounded up the session with her asking me to pick some stickers she had laid out on a table.
‘You can have more than one,’ she said, transforming my first health appointment from a dreadful one into a very memorable experience. Sadly, I don’t recall her name because she told me while I was still nervous, but I’d like to say a huge thank you to her.
On that note, make sure you have fulfilled the requirements for your immunization records and are no longer on hold.
The deadline is September 13, which is only two weeks away. I’d suggest going now rather than later because it might get a lot busier with longer wait times.
Going to a clinic, especially alone, might seem scary, but I
promise it’s all in your head. My whole visit lasted about an hour, and yes, the shots stung a little, but it’s nothing compared to the pain of being dropped from classes and having to pay the $150 fee.
So, if you haven’t yet taken care of your immunization
records, don’t wait until the last minute. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later—and you might even walk away with a sticker or two.