You notice a cough, a sneeze, a few sniffles, maybe an ache or two. Do you have swine flu?Probably not. Even if you do, it’s not a big deal. Trust me.

The level of swine flu paranoia on campus has reached ridiculous heights. I know this because I, too, was caught up in the storm of anxiety.

After passing by the plethora of hand-sanitizing stations that popped up in the cafeteria, my friends and I would discuss the problem. We swapped rumors about how many cases of swine flu there were on campus, and fearfully exclaimed, “I can’t get sick! I have no time to get sick!”

I turned into a germaphobe overnight. I anxiously wiped down surfaces with Lysol disinfecting wipes. I was on high alert for friends or acquaintances with even the most minor symptoms. If they felt so much as fatigued, I avoided them.

Alas, all these measures did not save me in the end. One night I started to feel the familiar ache of sickness spreading through my body. My first reaction was denial, but by the next night I was sitting in the waiting room of Urgent Medical and Family Care with a high fever.

“Oh my God, I have swine flu,” I thought. I envisioned days of fevered delirium, nausea, and vomiting. The specter of missed classes and unattended homework hovered menacingly over my thoughts.

None of these horrors came true. By the next morning I was fever-free. In another two days, I was back in class and feeling fine.

I’ll never know if I actually had swine flu. Area hospitals are not testing anyone for the H1N1 virus (the proper term for swine flu) unless the patient is at high risk for complications. Young and healthy as I am, I was treated with TamiFlu and told to isolate myself until my symptoms were abated.

Here’s the deal with H1N1: it’s basically no different than the run-of-the-mill seasonal flu we deal with every year. According to the Student Health Center, the flu symptoms that have been travelling around campus the past few weeks have been incredibly mild.

Only 24 cases of students with flu symptoms have been reported so far. Of those 24 cases, no one has been tested for H1N1. No one has been out of class longer than four days.

Everyone needs to chill out. The first question everyone asked me when they found out I was sick was, “Do you have swine flu?” I had to answer over and over again that I wasn’t sure because ultimately it didn’t matter.

Whether or not students have H1N1 or some other strain of the flu, it’s still important to contain the virus as much as possible. The Student Health Center is doing a good job of managing cases of flu symptoms and making sure that students aren’t punished for isolating themselves while they are sick.

There are some people who need to worry. If you have a pre-existing condition, such as pneumonia or a chronic health condition, the flu is bad news. The very young and the very old are also at high risk.

For the majority of Guilford students, though, getting the flu wouldn’t be a catastrophe. The best thing you can do to prevent getting sick is to stop stressing and take care of yourself. Wash your hands, eat well, and get enough sleep.

So, if a cough, a sneeze, a few sniffles, and maybe an ache or two are causing you to panic, please calm down. To everyone else, please stop asking if your friend has swine flu. It really doesn’t matter.