“I feel like you’re always sick!” laughs a girl in the bathroom I haven’t talked to since 10 grade. “Caroline make sure you have tissues,” says my mom every time I leave the house.

I am sick of being sick.

Every other week I wake up with a sore throat and run downstairs to guzzle down Airborne in my fruitless attempts to avoid the all too common cold. I am acquainted with the full-flavored taste of Mucinex and Nyquil. I’ve missed school, practices, parties, games, and more all because of germs that wrongly mistake my body as a Five-star resort. So of course any important or exciting event is accompanied with a persistent case of the sniffles. Prom? Yes. Spring break to Puerto Rico? Yes. Summer trip to Europe? You get the point. The common cold, according to Mayo Clinic, is “very common” with more than 3 million US cases per year. I think I alone make up 75% of those 3 million cases.

To those who often find themselves buried under a pile of tissues, I offer some advice.

• Get as much sleep as possible!
• Take Vitamins.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Exercise frequently.

I am trying to religiously follow my own advice by taking four different vitamins a day (Magnesium, Fish oil, Vitamin D, Iron) including an allergy pill called Singulair. I try to go to bed every night before 11 pm, but homework often makes this nearly impossible. I exercise Monday-Thursday and when Indoor Track and lacrosse start, I will be exercising Monday-Saturday. With exercising comes eating balanced meals. I eat 3 meals a day and try to avoid processed foods and snacks high in sugar. So with my healthy-ish lifestyle you think I would be capable of withstanding a sore throat or stuffy nose.

I think the real damage is done over the weekends. I’m not talking about excessive partying or other miscreant activity-just staying up late with friends on Friday night and waking up five hours later to get Dunkin messes up my system.

Fingers crossed I’ll be able to breathe through my nose by the end of the year!