We all been in those moments when someone gets to leave class early and we think, “Take me with you!” or when they get sick and we think that they are “lucky” for missing school. The person gets to be at home and relax while we stay and struggle at school. They could be doing anything they wanted: video games, watching tv, browsing the internet, they get a free day!

Except not. Instead of doing school work at school, where it belongs, when taking a day off, you end up doing your work at home or worrying, not relaxing, about what you’re missing. Then, days after that, you are piled in stacks of work trying to play catch up. It is torture to imagine what you’re missing, not because you love school but because you do not want to bring it home with you.

Say, somehow, by some miracle, you don’t get much work after emailing your teachers and trying to get a headstart on your missed assignments, then you end up bored, almost wishing the day would end. There are only so many Gravity Falls reruns one can watch without going insane, only so many dumb politic videos one can laugh at.

You wanna know how I know all of this? I’m home. Right now. Sick and delusional. Writing this with a 101 fever. Bored out of my burning mind! It seems like there is nothing to do, and all I can do is wait for tomorrow to do everything I’m missing.

That dream of relaxing at home, a cold Powerade in one hand and a bag of chips in the other? Just a pipe dream that is passed down through generations of students. It’s not fun; there are no friends to hang out with and no good shows are on. The worst part is, days from now, I’ll be wishing to be sick again so I can ‘relax’ and the cycle will continue.

So, like I said, missing school is overrated. -Heath H