If you didn’t know, viral rhinitis is also known as the common cold. I just thought using the medical term for it might be more eye-catching. I wanted to write this post as a reminder to my future self on how important it is to not only keep my my coding knowledge strong but also to keep my own immune system strong. For some context, I’m currently 28 and I no longer work out as often as I use to. This is the first time I’ve caught a cold since I was about 24. I tend to not get sick often, but when I do. Oh… when I do, it’s bad. But, it’s never been as bad as this and it makes me worried for how painful the body aches will be later down my years.
Anyways, I’ve been dealing with this cold while my project team is blazing through each task in our to-do list that we set up from our previous standup meeting. In group projects that I’ve been a part of, I tend to either lead it or carry a larger portion of the workload. Some of that have been attributed to other group members not being as strong in certain programming languages than I am or simply due to the fact that I was put in a “dead” group. So, I’m extremely honored to be working alongside Jon and Richie on our Board Game Editor. But, this week has been truly difficult for me. Not in the sense that the coding is complex, but the fact that I’m so physically drained that I can’t really bring myself up to doing more of my own workload. I felt super depressed about not being able to keep up with my team, but I knew how important it was to let my team know as soon as possible. I was really glad that Jon and Richie both responded almost immediately when I posted in our Discord letting them know about my situation. And, they both assured me that I didn’t need to push myself unnecessarily and that they’d be willing to pull the extra workload if I needed the help. Thankfully, I think I’ll be able to manage the rest of my workload by this weekend but it’s the thought that counts ultimately. I’m hoping this cold will be over in the next couple of days, so I can be more useful next week than I was this week.
Maybe it’s because I used to have my own prejudice on group members that had called in sick and it’s given me this disillusion that my group members probably were thinking the same. I want my future self to know that it’s okay to ask for help when the situation calls for it. And it shouldn’t make me feel bad to the point of feeling depressed because I had to ask for help. If you’re dealing with something while working with a group, just make sure to give them a heads up. Don’t be that guy who calls in sick on the day of a deadline.
