Going into college, all you hear about is the freshman plague. I kind of just nodded and said yes every time someone warned me about it. Big mistake. I should've listened.

The Freshman Plague is real. It is real and it is no joke.

This fall, our campus had the fortune of being infected with Hand Foot and 
Mouth Disease. A disease that is common in young children, which makes this all the more confusing.

It involves the blistering of, you guessed it, your hands, feet and mouth, along with fevers and sore throats and all the other good stuff. I was "lucky" enough to have had it as a young one which resulted in my being immune from this strain of it.

But, I might as well have had it.
I went paranoid. Literal crazy.

I carried little mini hand sanitizers (varying from Cucumber Mint to Eucalyptus Aromatherapy courtesy of Bath and Body Works) in every pocket, every bag, every crevice that I possibly could.

Going to a party? Don't forget your travel size hand sanitizer GOD forbid. Oh, or your surgical mask.
Those were a must-have.

The school sent out an email, ensuring that everyone washes their hands -like that will help protect me from the plague.

When the number of those infected started increasing, I noticed big changes. One day, I was sitting in Lower Cents waiting to get picked up for soccer practice when I see a pickup truck pull up and custodians come out of it along with several hand sanitizer dispensers. It was getting real.

I was so pre-cautious. I wiped down every door handle before I touched it. Sometimes I used my feet. I used an immense amount of Lysol to clean my room constantly. But clearly it wasn't enough.

Before we knew it, my roommate and I were cornered.
Girls across the hall and in the rooms next to us were sick. That was it. We thought that was going to be the end.
One of the girls was our friend. She wasn't allowed to enter our room for almost a month. You get Hand Foot Mouth, you play by my rules.

Thankfully I think we are reaching the end of it. I haven't heard of anyone having it in a couple of weeks.

People were really starting to turn on each other. Supposedly one of the freshman dorms in Lower Cents was the location of the outbreak. People hung a banner that said "Stevens started HFM."  It was hilarious. Targeting, but hilarious.

Patient 0, whoever you are. Look what you've done.