UPDATE: Sickness During College

[goldberry]

UPDATE:  DD passed all her classes and got her student teaching assignment in a beautiful mountain rural area that she requested.  AND, she found housing there (which is really hard here) and received a rural student teaching stipend she applied for.  😭 I cannot express how much this means to her.  God bless professors that acted like human beings with compassion.  But also so proud of her for her work all these last few years....  Thanks everyone!  Sometimes good things happen!! 🥰

 

My DD is in her last year of college.  This is her fifth year because she couldn't get all her credits done in four years.  This year she had some tremendous stress over the summer to deal with.  About a month ago she had a week where she had three migraines.  She gets migraines with aura that are very severe and include aphasia.  She missed school that whole week and couldn't do anything to keep up during that time.  Literally the very next week she came down with 103 fever.  Negative for covid, flu, and mono, but she was sick for a week.  She tried to keep up during that time with some zoom lectures and a bit of homework.  As of right now she is still behind in a few classes.  Her professors adore her (most know her from previous classes or other professors) and have been very helpful and understanding.  But she also has 90 hours of teaching observation at the local high school that she is behind on and that was already borderline being able to make up.

Last week her best friend was Covid positive.  Today (7 days later) she woke up with a fever and body aches.  😷  Both she and friend are fully vaxxed  just fyi.  She is crazy upset because of school mostly.  With things that happened during the summer it would have been easy to just take this semester off initially, but she is determined to graduate since she is already in her fifth year.  This is basically her last schooling semester, next semester is strictly student teaching.  But she doesn't see how she will ever catch up after being out two weeks and now probably covid.  😭

Any experience with this?  If she is not able to catch up, are these going to count as fails?  She can't be the first person with unexpected sickness.  There are 6.5 weeks left in the semester.

Edited December 12, 2021 by goldberry

[Miss Tick]

Can she take a strategic approach to the problem? Perhaps there are two classes she can get caught up in, two that she can negotiate an incomplete and then finish over break or next semester alongside student teaching, that would leave one to formulate a plan for. Obviously I have no idea how many classes she is actually taking, but something like this might be her best bet. She is smart to be recognizing and dealing with the problem now, rather than just hoping for the best. Use some of the social capital she has with her teachers to get them to come on board with whatever plan she proposes.

[goldberry]

She has two professors right now that have already sort-of-kind-of implied they will "push her through".  This is because she has been such a hard worker and reliable until now.  The primary problem is her teaching observation, which has to be completed before she can advance to student teaching. 

When you say negotiate an incomplete, how does that work?

[KSera]

I would encourage her to talk to her professors about taking incompletes while continuing to work on the classes and to have them finished sometime next semester. How many classes does she have?  If there are any classes she still feels like she can keep up with this semester, she could complete those on time, to reduce how many she has left to complete over next semester. 

[goldberry]

6 minutes ago, KSera said:

I would encourage her to talk to her professors about taking incompletes while continuing to work on the classes and to have them finished sometime next semester. How many classes does she have?  If there are any classes she still feels like she can keep up with this semester, she could complete those on time, to reduce how many she has left to complete over next semester. 

I just did some searching about incompletes.  Did not know that was an option and neither did DD.  She thought they were just fails. So thank you!  That might be a real option for her.

[Miss Tick]

7 minutes ago, goldberry said:

When you say negotiate an incomplete, how does that work?

I'm just thinking of having her approach a professor, explain what has been going on and then offer a proposal, like, I can take the exams, but turn in the paper in February. Or perhaps, I can't get all the homeworks complete before the solutions are released, but would you accept in their place a paper discussing the pros and cons of *fill in appropriate topic* to be completed by <manageable date> Also, professor might offer some ideas also.

Keep in mind that in addition to the out of scope grading, they are also signing up to do some paperwork to award, and then replace the incomplete.

[Bootsie]

She needs to check regarding Incomplete policies at her univerisity; different univervisities will have reules regarding the situations in which a professor can assign an Incomp at the end of the semester and the amount of time that the student has to compelte the work.  She should also talk to her advisor about her options.  Sometimes I have had a student who has had so many things come up in a semester that they really did need to take a medical withdrawal for the semester and start fresh the next semester.  Other times an Incomplete grade gave them the opportunity to catch up on missed work.  Sometimes, they needed to drop a class or two and then really focus all of their energy on getting through the remaining courses.  

[regentrude]

Talk to instructors+ contact advisor.
Reach out to the Care Management team at the college that assist students in coordinating these things. They may be able to hep with getting exceptions from class policies, late assignments etc
Explore possibility of grade of Incomplete if she cannot finish the semester. Incomplete is given to students who are in good standing and cannot finish the semester for medical or other emergency reasons. It often only applies only if it's past the deadline to drop a class. May be worth inquiring though.
 

[goldberry]

Incomplete policy for her school definitely applies to her situation.  Professor can give an incomplete up to the final grading deadline for the semester.  Work has to be finished by 6 weeks into the following semester, but can be extended by discretion up to one year.  Thinking she should focus on her teaching observation hours because if that isn't finished she can't go forward.  One other class and maybe two she will complete and pass, two classes professors will either push her though or would accommodate an incomplete.  Her teaching observation advisor has been helpful so far, but not sure what she will be able to do if DD has to miss a minimum of 10 more days with a Covid positive.

Thanks for the help!  This kid can't seem to catch a break this year 😞

Editing to add, her advisor that she has had all four years is also one of her professors this semester.  He is one who told her he "wouldn't let her" fail. 🙂

Edited October 27, 2021 by goldberry

[goldberry]

So DD's friend tested positive, one week later DD has fever, congestion, and significant loss of taste.  Covid test negative, both rapid and PCR.  She is in a really bad situation now because it certainly seems to be a false negative (what else causes loss of taste??), but both her school and work require a positive test to be excused.  She missed a ton of work previously in addition to school, so her work is absolutely YOU MUST COME IN.   Professors told her if she's fever free by Monday she can resume classes.  She feels like that will be okay because they are masking and distancing.  Job is pressuring her to work TONIGHT. 

Ugh.

[katilac]

If she can afford to risk the job, I would not go in (and would consider having her take off the rest of the semester). I realize it may not be possible, but it could be a big help to getting school done. 

I would also have her take another covid test if possible. I will say that everyone I know who had the loss of taste with covid, had complete loss of taste. Congestion with any cause can lead to a significant loss of smell and taste. Maybe have her try sniffing a strong essential oil, like peppermint. 

[RootAnn]

@goldberry Hugs to your dd and I'm glad she has a mom like you & such supportive advisors/profs. 

[Dmmetler]

As someone who has been Ed faculty, is there any possibility that she could do some of her observation hours in a virtual classroom, or remotely? Given that she has COVID symptoms, I can't imagine they'd want her in a classroom right now, and there are many virtual public schools, such that it honestly is a setting that a prospective teacher SHOULD be familiar with. I know that if I had a student with medical issues, it's something I'd be seeing if it might possibly be an option. 

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Dmmetler

[Lilaclady]

Can she find out if she can do the student observation virtually? With all that has gone on that might be a way that will work for

her. 

[Acadie]

3 hours ago, goldberry said:

So DD's friend tested positive, one week later DD has fever, congestion, and significant loss of taste.  Covid test negative, both rapid and PCR.  She is in a really bad situation now because it certainly seems to be a false negative (what else causes loss of taste??), but both her school and work require a positive test to be excused.  She missed a ton of work previously in addition to school, so her work is absolutely YOU MUST COME IN.   Professors told her if she's fever free by Monday she can resume classes.  She feels like that will be okay because they are masking and distancing.  Job is pressuring her to work TONIGHT. 

Ugh.

Can she prioritize getting tested again? I'd probably encourage her to get another rapid and another PCR, and if she needs to persuade health services to retest she can emphasize new onset loss of taste. Possibly even a couple additional rapid tests. That said, a bad cold can seriously compromise taste, so I wouldn't assume that it's definitely Covid.

But repeat testing is definitely warranted here for her wellbeing and in the interest of public health. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Acadie

[Lecka]

I took some Incompletes when I had mono.  Then finished the next semester. 
 

I talked to the individual teachers and I think I also talked to the department chair first.  I already knew him from taking two classes with him.  
 

I think this is what the campus health clinic recommended, that is where I got diagnosed with mono.  
 

I got advice not to overload myself for the following semester, when I would have current work, work from the previous semester, and they weren’t sure how long it would take for me to recover fully from mono. 
 

It did work out.  

[JennyD]

I completely agree with what everyone has said upthread about incompletes.  Also, is there a dean of students at her school?  They can be extremely helpful in this sort of situation and will often give professors a heads-up before a student comes asking for an incomplete or other accommodation.  I would encourage her to reach out to the dean of students' office and schedule an appointment just to talk through the whole situation and make a plan.

5 hours ago, goldberry said:

, but both her school and work require a positive test to be excused. 

What do you mean by "excused" at the school?   I'm not familiar with this in a college context.  Is there a person in charge of this policy or process, or does it just establish what excuses individual professors are supposed to accept?   I really think that any reasonable decisionmaker, upon being told "I have fever, congestion, and loss of taste but a negative Covid test" would agree to excuse that person for having Covid. 

Please tell her it will be okay!  Her professors and the people at the college all want her to graduate, go out into the world and thrive.  This sort of thing happens all the time, covid or no covid, and it is absolutely a fixable situation.  She just needs to talk to the relevant people and sort out the details.  Hope she feels better ASAP.

Edited October 29, 2021 by JennyD

[Emba]

I was in a car accident my Junior year of college, around Thanksgiving. I had a head injury. I took incompletes in all my courses, and then worked with professors to negotiate what would be necessary to turn them into “complete”. I had a certain amount of time - I can’t remember if it was one semester or one year. 
 

i don’t remember what the process was. It may have involved speaking to the Dean as well as all the professors.

 But be warned. it is hard to muster up the motivation to complete work when you aren’t actually talking the classes anymore. I ended up failing a couple of the incomplete because I didn’t get the work done. But that may depend on her personality, and I did have a head injury. If she can get her professors to work out other options for catching up, while still attending as possible for the rest of the semester, that might be preferable. Some professors are more flexible than others.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Emba

[Lecka]

I think with mine it could be an extension or an incomplete.  It could be an extension and then turn into an incomplete.  
 

I think it was flexible because we didn’t know how much I would be able to do.  
 

I agree with pp they urged me not to take too long and not to overload with make-up work.

I think one teacher waived a paper and instead made a final have a greater weight.  
 

They did things like that to make it easier on me.  And — because it was over halfway through the semester and I had As going into it (iirc).  
 

Edit:  from what I remember I got a lot better over Winter Break and caught up a lot then and only had one class left to deal with when the Spring semester started.  But it has been a long time ago now.

 

I remember everyone was helpful and didn’t want me to make myself sicker by trying to do too much. 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Lecka

[lmrich]

Forever ago - 30 years... I had a horrid case of mono. I was hospitalized, etc... First term of my freshmen year. 

Ended up withdrawing from one class and worked with professors to make up work for the others. Communication and transparency is key. I would encourage your student to be honest and keep medical records handy, just in case. 

[goldberry]

On 10/29/2021 at 12:44 PM, Dmmetler said:

As someone who has been Ed faculty, is there any possibility that she could do some of her observation hours in a virtual classroom, or remotely? Given that she has COVID symptoms, I can't imagine they'd want her in a classroom right now, and there are many virtual public schools, such that it honestly is a setting that a prospective teacher SHOULD be familiar with. I know that if I had a student with medical issues, it's something I'd be seeing if it might possibly be an option. 

 

 

 

That's a no on that.  Her teacher she is observing uses a "modern classroom" model .  Lectures and powerpoints are recorded, students do those as homework and most of class is working on projects and the teacher addressing individual students.  It's pretty cool actually and DD really enjoys it!  But not conducive to virtual observation.  She is getting evaluated on interaction with students, and that wouldn't be possible with her current environment.

[goldberry]

She didn't have fever yesterday or today, so she is planning on returning to classes on Monday as her advisor recommended.  I feel it's dicey because I think she could still be transmitting covid if that's what she had, but she's had two negative tests and now no fever, so.... 😕

She is going to be super tight on the observations.  She scheduled another meeting with her observation advisor.  She was happy to know incomplete might be an option, I think that took a lot of stress off her, so thank you to all who shared that.  Very grateful her professors are being so helpful.  I've reminded her that she built up that capital through her good work. She's a student ambassador this year, and one of the first things she recommended to the freshmen was "Get to know your professors!  Talk to them, visit office hours!"  It really has made a huge difference for her.  One year she worked so hard and still ended up with a lower grade... that magically went up a the very end of the semester!  Her professors have always mentioned that they knew she knew the material because of her class participation and discussion during office hours.  She never skipped classes unnecessarily and always participated.  So stress that to your college kiddos!

[goldberry]

Update in first post!

[KSera]

Yay!

[Catwoman]

I’m so happy for her!!!

[Longtime Lurker]

What great news! Thanks for updating!

[RootAnn]

That is a good college faculty. Congrats to her for her perseverance & hard work! That would make a good story for a job interview.

[catz]

Congratulations all around!  Great news!    🥳💕

[Corraleno]

Yay, what a great update! 

[Frances]

So happy to hear the great update! Many congratulations to her! Her hard work and dedication paid off! It sounds like she will make a wonderful teacher.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Frances

[TexasProud]

What a wonderful update!!  Thanking for coming back to give it to us. So happy for her.

[MEmama]

Congratulations to her— you must be so proud of her! 

[Kassia]

So happy for her!  What a wonderful update!

[Soror]

Ya! Congrats to your daughter. So happy to read this update.

[goldberry]

Thanks everyone! Talk about breathing a sigh of relief!  (She and I both!)  She's had just a flat out awful year, so it was really nice to see her luck turn around. 🥰

Lesson to pass on:  Work as hard as you can when things are good.  Get to know and befriend your professors, participate, comment in class, even if you are normally shy or introverted. It will come back around to you!