I’m thankful to have the people around me that I do. Denisonians are really, really good people.
We have a way of being there for one another when we need to be. We’ve seen that a lot over the last few weeks, and I’ve seen it personally as well, even if on a smaller scale.
This past week, I got the stomach bug that seems to be plaguing everyone around campus. It’s not a fun one either. Lots of puking. Lots of other stuff that I won’t get in to. Just take my word for it that if you haven’t had it yet, try to avoid it any way you can. WASH YOUR HANDS.
After a few hours of throwing up to the point of blood, I knew that I should probably go to a doctor. I was nauseous. I had a fever. I couldn’t keep down anything, even water, and I understood how dehydrated I was. So, I decided I should probably go to the doctor, just to make sure it wasn’t the flu or anything more serious.
Now, I have a car on campus, but I knew I couldn’t drive. So, I sent a text to a group chat I’m in, and almost immediately, at 1 a.m., got an offer for someone to drive me to the hospital.
What’s weird about that though? The person who offered to drive me wasn’t my best friend. They weren’t even in my grade. I consider him a friend, but he was not the person who I expected to jump so quickly when I asked at 1 a.m. on a Wednesday night.
About ten minutes later, I was picked up by a senior outside of Crawford, but Denison continued to amaze me. Another person came with the driver. I had not one, but two people to escort me to the hospital at 1 a.m.
The road was curvy, which didn’t help the ol’ stomach out at all, but luckily, the seniors had brought me a bag just in case. I didn’t end up throwing up, but I thought I would a few times, and was very thankful (a theme throughout this column) that they had thought to bring a bag.
When we arrived at the hospital, I fully expected to be dropped off. It was 1 a.m. after all, and both of the people I was with had class at 10 a.m. I’d stay the night at the hospital and get someone else or uber back to Denison in the morning.
That wasn’t the way it turned out.
“Do you want to walk him in while I park the car?”
The most dad question ever, but it wasn’t family asking the question. It was seniors in college who were there for a younger friend.
I kept telling them they didn’t have to stay. I knew they were busy. I knew they were tired. But they stayed.
Now, I don’t know if you have ever been to a hospital in Newark, Ohio, but if you ever need to go, I recommend blocking out a few hours. It’s going to to take a while. At 1 a.m. in the middle of the week, it wasn’t crowded, and yet we did a lot more waiting than we did actually talking to the doctor.
In fact, after seeing the doctor, it took over an hour just to print, sign, and give me the prescription. But they stayed.
We didn’t get out of there until nearly 5 a.m. The two seniors stayed all the way until the very end and drove me right back to Crawford. They continued to check in with me the next day, and even offered to drive me to get my prescription from Granville.
It’s this kind of dedication that continues to distinguish us as Denisonians. I was only expecting to be dropped off at the hospital, but instead I got two people who made the experience as bearable as it could possibly be. If you’ve ever been to the hospital, then you know that having people with you makes the waiting much more bearable.
I’m thankful that I am here.