Now that spring break has come and passed, college students are left to reflect on the decisions that they’ve made. Some good… And most, not. My bad decision was not intentional.

The much anticipated 12-hour drive back from my spring break destination in Texas proved to be quite a challenge. All alone for a road trip home that was going to last about 12 hours seemed to be as simple as it was on the way there.

Five tolls later, that drained the change that I had stashed in my car made me ready to just be home. In hour six, my trip started to take a different direction. After more constant driving, I started to feel dizzy.

I had finally gotten to Illinois. Still a few hours before I reached home, I didn’t want to stop and delay my arrival any further. I had already stopped for gas.

Not long after I had felt dizzy, my stomach began to hurt. I knew I wasn’t hungry because I ate leftover pizza for breakfast. I wasn’t sure what to do for myself except to drink water to stay hydrated.

I finally got within an hour of home when I started to feel hot and began to feel sick. I convinced myself to stop by a gas station to stretch my legs and get some air. After relaxing for all of 10 minutes, I wasn’t feeling any better. In fact, the sick feeling was getting stronger, and I even started to feel light headed.

I was only an hour from home. I kept pushing myself and eventually started my car and started back out on the road. Less than five minutes form the gas station, I pulled over to the side of the road and got sick.

After this unpleasant event, I felt a moment of bliss. I got back on the road and pushed myself all the way home. I pulled into the driveway where my dad met me. I got out of the car with a pale face, walked right into the house, lay on the couch and got sick again, and again, and again.

So, how was my spring break? The first three days were perfect, but all the rest was a disaster. The decision to drive myself to and from Texas was no mistake, but the pizza that I ate after it sat longer than it should have (which probably caused the beginning of my sickness), and that was my bad decision.

I was sick for the remainder of spring break. Three days of not keeping anything down and two days of nausea and a developing head cold, which rolled over to my last day. I’m hoping next spring break will include more good days.

Karena Ozier is a freshman elementary education major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].