How Many College Students are on Here?

oh well im sorry things havent been working out for you. dont you wish money just grew on trees and we didnt have to work anyway? i just had to leave my two jobs because i can't even function anymore, im spending everyday in bed til school starts and i wish i could say i go to the beach and stuff but i dont/cant because there arent bathrooms close enough! if i could i just wouldnt go to college because all i really aspire to do in life is travel, but lord knows if you want to travel nice you need good money... so hopefully i can go to college, get a good degree to make me a lot of money and retire really young and travel all around the world. it's funny how no matter how bad my flares get i always seem to find a healthy day spending it on a sailboat! haha

I just turned thirty seven weeks ago and I am getting my PhD.

I'm in law school but had undiagnosed crohns through college. I was under the impression it was IBS. I had really figured out that food affected me but I never smartened up on the drinking. I drank like a fish every friday and saturday night. I did very well in school and graduated in the top 20% of my class. But I still had urgency issues. I knew where all the bathrooms were. I told my professors about my undiagnosed problems so they wouldn't think I was rude if I frequently left class. Our doors were in the front of the classrooms so I always sat up front and to the right so I could slip in and out w/o making too much of a scene. The joint dorm bathroom wasn't ideal but it was so big. People would be showering or blow drying so it was kind of easy to just get in go and get out without everyone knowing who was who. Plus everyone pooped in there, some just more than others, some stinkier than others lol. I also had only single sex dorms on campus. So, we had a guest bathroom for the boys in the lobby. It was single stall and boys weren't allowed in during the weekdays anyway. So a lot of times if I could hold it I would run down there to go. I also knew where the big single stall handicap ones were on campus and used those at times. I did have a flare my junior year and spend a day in the hospital right before finals. My profs let me move my exams and my roommates were very understanding. Junior year I lived with 4 other girls in a 2 bathroom apartment and senior year I lived with 3 other girls in a 2 bathroom apartment. It was never too much of an issue. But I was open about it and not embarassed by it either. I think if I had been diagnosed with crohns I would have been more comfortable with explaining my problems rather than having to say " I have something wrong with me and go to the bathroom urgently and frequently" to my professors. Would have been nice to just say crohns. I also did a full time internship my senior year at probation and parole. That involved a lot of home visits and driving in an officers car. I made sure she knew that if I needed a stop it meant now and on the days I felt extra bad I would just stay and do office work instead. I missed a few classes like anyone but not more than my partying peers. The only time I came close to having a problem was when I volunteered at a local jail tutoring kids and found out that I couldn't use the bathroom there but would rather have to go into the main building across campus. The staff was not at all friendly so rather than trying to explain I took off running. I made it. But the poor kid I tutored was sitting there alone like what the heck is going on? lol!

aw thanks everyone for all of the great stories and advice and support! it is tough as you all know now and sometimes it's hard to optomistic but luckily today i actually feel the best ive felt in so many months! i hoping it's the humira starting to work and not just the pain meds i took last night and today for other reasons. but whatever it is one good day sure can lift your spirits! if these kind of days continue i'll be so excited for college!

wow that's cool, and it's weird cause my mom actually really wanted me to go to UCDavis

well it's good you are trying to stick with it. what school were you going to in MA? im going to college in MA, Simmons, i just ask because simmons is actually big on nursing

Marriage and Family Therapy

I'll be a sophomore at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in a month (eek!). I made it most of the year last year without a flare, but as a precaution, 2nd semester I registered with the disability office. That made it really easy for me to go to the bathroom when needed, miss class if necessary, etc. Basically, one of their specialists met with me and wrote a letter to all of my professors explaining the accommodations that were necessary for me. None of my professors had an issue with it, and the year went pretty smoothly.

As for roommates, I requested to live with a friend of mine from high school last year and I'm living with a friend again this year in the dorms, so they both know that I'm sick. Last year's bathroom situation kind of sucked lol, but the one nice thing was that there was a unisex bathroom for when guys would come and visit, so I would go down the hall to that one instead a lot of the time. Next year, I'm living in a suite that has a bathroom connected, and it's shared between 2 rooms, 4 people.

My only advice would be to try and set up your living arrangements, so that you always have access to your own bathroom, but that's not always possible. The worst thing that can happen is you have an embarrassing moment or two, those moments will actually build your character, though it won't feel like that when it happens. I had many such moments throughout college, and still have the occasional moment now, it's just that you eventually learn what is really important, worrying about what others think really doesn't need to be anywhere near the top of the list of priorities....more important is doing what you know is right, and people will automatically gravitate towards you.

Don't forget, in the U.S., I recently heard a statistic that said those with a degree, on average, earn at least one million dollars more than someone without a degree during their lifetimes. My dad likes to say the more letters after your name, the more zero's in your paycheck. Just works that way, especially in today's economy. The only other way to really get a leg up these days is owning your own business, which will really eat up all your time.....the days of lots of jobs in great companies that are setup to help people move upwards career-wise are over, you've got to go out there and get it yourself if you really want it.....

good luck and enjoy the ride!