Maybe I’m being dramatic or overly exaggerating my hatred for certain things, but over the course of the last four years, I’ve discovered a fair amount of things that I genuinely cannot stand without throwing up. While I’m very grateful to have experienced a variety of different situations during my time at Northwood, here are a few that I would like to never encounter again. 

Fear of getting sick
I practically earned a degree in getting sick: 87% of my absences this year were due to me actually battling something. Every time the seasons change, my immune system decides it’s the perfect time to throw a tantrum. Naturally, this aligns perfectly with exam season. While everyone else is stressing over finals, I’m stressing over whether I can even make it to class without turning into a walking tissue box. It usually starts with a brutal sore throat and headache, followed by a runny nose, and finally, a month-long cough. These days, I carry hand sanitizer like it’s my security blanket and give side-eyes to anyone who coughs within ten feet of me. Germs might be tiny, but my fear of them is massive.

Germophobia

By the time 3rd period ends, the 900s bathroom has transformed into a post-apocalyptic scene. Floors suspiciously wet, toilets overflowing like they’ve lost all hope and—somehow—there are always random chunks of ICEE floating in places that make zero sense. The thought of sitting on that seat? Nope. I’ve perfected the hover squat so well, I could teach a masterclass. I haven’t touched a toilet seat since freshman year. This isn’t just a phobia anymore; it’s an essential survival skill.

Fear of blood

This phobia sneaks up on me during the last two weeks of sophomore year, while I’m watching the new season of Stranger Things. Eleven’s nose starts to bleed again, but watching it on a large laptop screen with three others, I suddenly feel a rush of blood to my head and think I’m going to throw up. My fingers curl, goosebumps rise, and my whole body cringes at the sight of the red stream under Eleven’s nose. School blood drives? I can’t even look at my own hand properly after getting a papercut. Even when someone else gets hurt, I feel the pain mirrored on my own skin and immediately get a wave of nausea. Blood is still a no-go for me, hence why I gave up on my dream of going pre-med early on.

Arachnophobia

Nothing unleashes my inner warrior quite like spotting an eight-legged intruder crawling across the wall. Armed with whatever’s handy from books, shoes and even pens, I’ve taken down at least ten unsuspecting spiders, each “battle” its own war story. But my last encounter went sideways when I accidentally crushed a spider egg sac, and a sticky, yellowish goo spilled everywhere like a tiny, horrifying volcano erupting in my room. My stomach did flips for days, and I swore off arachnid warfare… until the next spider showed up.