Illnesses Rack The Choate Community Colds Spread Far and Wide, even Home
By Suril Kantaria ‘09
News Reporter
Numerous students have been surprised to find that the annual widespread sicknesses are back rather early this year at Choate, but this time the virus is spreading very quickly and is not disappearing.
A very bad cold virus has been spreading around campus since the end of the summer. Compared to last year, when the flu virus and colds were first seen at the end of the fall term, the virus has reached Choate very early.
Many Choate students have been taken by surprise. Kathryn Kilkenny ’10 commented, “The colds going around are really terrible, especially because they came so early in the school year.” Similarly, Mathew Millman 09’ bluntly stated, “[The colds] which many kids are getting just suck.”
Boarding schools tend to have waves of sicknesses because of their close-quarters environments, where students come into contact with each other not only inside of the classroom but also in the dorms.
Unfortunately, students aren’t the only ones vulnerable to the colds being passed around. Many teachers are also moving away from their textbooks and lectures to grab a few tissues. Mrs. Brown, a Spanish teacher, was one of the many teachers to have this awful experience. She said, “I just sat there at my desk with two giant boxes of tissues, just blowing my nose.”
The large wave of colds has caused people to depend on Dr. Benjamin Gardner, Choate’s resident physician, and the health center to cure their illnesses. Mrs. Brown commented, “I made my first trip ever to the health center. I was shocked because it was only ten days into the term. I was still wearing my summer skirt!”
Dr. Gardner declined The News’ request for an interview.
The urgent trips to the health center forced many students and teachers to miss classes. Additionally some teachers let their classes out early or even canceled class. Mrs. Brown stated, “I remember I let two classes out very early when I was sick….I even missed a department meeting because of my cold.”
Students have suggested that teachers should decrease the work-load when many students are sick to make sure people don’t fall behind. Katie Kilkenny ’10 agreed, “I couldn’t even do my homework, because I just sat [at my desk] blowing my nose! I think teachers should lessen the homework when multiple students in their class are sick.”
In addition to the Choate boarders being affected, many day student families are suffering from the virus. Katie Kilkenny ’10, a day student from Glastonbury, angrily remarked, “even my family is getting the terrible cold. My family has even given it a name, the Choate Crud.” Matthew Millman 09’, a day student from Guilford similarly said, “My entire family had the cold in the beginning of the fall term. My sister got it and then spread it to my family and me.”
The Choate faculty and students see sicknesses come and go every year at Choate, but many say that this virus isn’t going away. The Peer Educators will try their best to help inform students about how to keep the sicknesses away from them. They will be running presentations this week on various topics, including cleanliness. Last year, the peer educators emphasized in their presentations the importance of washing your hands very frequently.
The health center is also doing its job by trying their best to keep the school from getting ill. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that flu vaccine makers will provide 115 million flu vaccines to U.S. this year. The health center will try to acquire enough of these flu vaccines for the Choate community, and they will soon be seen outside of the dining hall bribing people with bags of candy to get their yearly flu shots.
