Navigating College with a Chronic Illness
If you have a chronic illness and want to attend college, do not let fear of the unknown stop you. There are many things you can do to prepare yourself for this transition.
By Samantha Bockoven — January 17, 2023
Living with a chronic illness can be stressful at times. Between taking multiple medications, attending many doctor's appointments, and constantly managing different symptoms, navigating college may feel out of reach. Living with a chronic illness should not prevent you from following your dreams. You deserve equal access to education and experience of student life on campus. Below I outline a few steps you can take to alleviate some stress accompanying this significant life change.
Work with the College's Disability Services Office
Every chronic illness has different symptoms, which can lead to various challenges. The disability service office on campus is a great place to get accommodations and support for your specific needs. They can help empower you at the office by coordinating different support services. These include exam accommodations, note-taking support, attendance modification, assistive technology, sign language interpreting/transcribing, housing accommodations, dining accommodations, disability parking, priority scheduling, course substitutions, accessible furniture for dorms and classrooms, adaptive transportation, and more.
As an example, you may be able to get a parking pass to have a car on campus as a first-year student—even if your campus does not permit first-year to have cars on campus. If you need to be able to attend doctor's appointments and pick up medications, Universities can make exceptions. Student services may also contact your teachers to let them know the attendance rules do not apply to you since your illness might mean you're absent more than the average person. As you can see, there are plenty of steps the office can take to help address your specific needs.
Build a Support Network
Especially if you are moving away from college, it is important to work on building a support system. Make sure you connect with any relatives in the area and make friends on campus who understand your needs and would be willing to help you with tasks like driving you to appointments, dropping off supplies, or providing you company when you are having a hard time.
Another way to build a network includes utilizing resources on campuses, such as a counselor or a support group. Support groups might be a great place to make friends who understand you on a deeper level. Each campus has different resources, so make sure to do research ahead of time.
The last piece of your support network is a good healthcare provider. Ask your current healthcare provider if he knows anyone around your college campus who would recommend to transfer care. You can spend time researching and looking up reviews online if they do not. It can take months to get an appointment. I recommend starting to plan early. At the end of your senior year of college, you can schedule an appointment for your first month on campus to establish care with a new provider. That way, you can quickly find someone and get an appointment when you are already not feeling well.
Learn How to Advocate for Yourself and Communicate Your Needs
It is just a part of life that you will run into people who do not understand or care about your needs. Especially for people with invisible illnesses, this frustrating reality means that you'll have to explain to people that you do have a disability, even if they cannot see it or you "seem like you are fine." You must continue to advocate for yourself and communicate your needs. One crucial way to do this is to get information and decisions made in writing.
If a professor says you get extra time, make sure you have that in writing. In addition, make sure you constantly document everything going on—everything from symptoms to troubles with other students or professors, etc. This way, you can use the information to back up your claims. Another way to advocate for yourself is to know your rights. The office of disability services will be able to inform you of these rights. Just remember to be assertive, be confident, and prioritize your needs!
Find Ways to Manage Stress and Prioritize Self-Care
For many chronic illnesses, stress can cause you to have a massive flare of symptoms. Because of this, many people have flares during their first semester of college because of all the new changes. Flares may also occur around midterms and finals week because of big tests and project deadlines. It is important to have a plan for how you will navigate this stress. Some suggestions include staying active with mild exercises, such as yoga, meditating, or journaling. In addition, getting enough sleep and eating a well-balanced and healthy diet can also mitigate symptoms. As you head into midterms and finals, it is essential that you stay on top of your work and do not procrastinate, so you do not add stress to your life. Lastly, as mentioned above, make sure that you have a good support network because laughing with friends is the best way to relieve stress.
If you have a chronic illness and want to attend college, do not let fear of the unknown stop you. As you can see above, there are many things you can do to prepare yourself for this transition.
Samantha Bockoven
Samantha Bockoven graduated from Villanova University in 2019 with a degree in Peace and Justice and a minor in Global Health. She went on to get her master’s in public health with a concentration in disaster health and emergency preparedness. Since then, she has worked in a variety of public health jobs in the United States and around the world.
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