Sick in Savannah

This is the tale of one students excursion to a coveted vacation spot....


At the end of May, a group of geology grad students headed south to Savannah, Georgia for the Southeastern Geological Society of America (SEGSA) conference. Obligatorily, we created posters and prepared to present our work, our research, what we have been living and breathing for over a year now. Nervous for fear of ridicule and uncertain of events to unfold, we laboriously worked on our posters.

Finishing ahead of schedule, one student makes the last revisions and prepares to print the final version. However, at this same time, the printer has decided it does not want to print the poster correctly. Distraught and aggravated, she stays up until 3:30 a.m., with only a pixelated version of her crisp detailed poster. In a last effort, she send the file off to the mediacenter on campus, hoping their printer will be able to print it correctly.

Early the next morning, a day before they are to leave for Savannah, she wakes feeling horrible, only to progressively worsen during the day. With a fever growing, she retrieves the printed poster from the mediacenter in a delusional state. Somehow, the mediacenter was able to fix the issue and the poster looks crisp, clear, and ready to present. However, her feverish state is making her feel nauseous and riding in a van packed full of people for 6 hours does sound appealing, let alone presenting a poster. Not sure what to do, seeks out one of her advisers.

While he is trying to dismiss her, she informs him she is not well and may not be able to attend the conference. Trying to be responsible, she asks what she should do. Should she give her poster to one of the students ans ask them to hang it up for her? Should she find someone to stand by it and tell people that the presenter is ill? He tells her that he or her other advisor will present it, if she cannot make it and with that she leaves the poster in the hands of one of the other students and heads home to rest, hoping she will feel better after some additional sleep.

Later, much later that day, she wakes in a cold sweat, feeling somewhat better, having finally broken the fever. A kind friend brings her food and although she is not hungry, she eats and within a few hours is feeling much better. Even though she knows she is not well, she arranges to make the journey and attempt to follow through what she has started.

After a long night's sleep she loads herself into the van and with the other students, she heads south on I-95 to Savannah. Ah, Savannah... she has wanted to visit this place for many years now and has made multiple attempts and planned trips, all of which did not come to fruition. Now, she is finally going, but will she be able to enjoy it?

Surprisingly, the drive down was not bad. A fellow student and kind friend, comfortingly sat next to her on the drive, helping to create a buffer so as to keep the sickness from infecting others. Her constant coughing did nor seem to upset anyone but she was fading as they approached the hotel in Savannah. After checking in, the students headed out to explore the town, but she decided to stay in and rest. Her poster session was at 8 a.m. the next morning and she wanted to feel as good as possible. She did manage to make it out to grab dinner. The hotel was located next to River Street with a beautiful view. Walking to a restaurant, the air was chilly and slightly weighted with the warmth of humidity. The old facades and tourist feel of the town reminded her of her home town and how much she missed it. There were people out strolling along the uneven brick streets and live music drifting from the restaurants and bars.

Accompanied by a few other students, she resigned to the hotel room to rest before her poster presentation in the morning. She endured the deep dreamless sleep of sickness only interrupted by a inconsiderate drunken phone call. Regardless, she rose early and after yet another trip to a nearby drug store, she made it to the poster session on time. Although she couldn't really talk, because the cold had settled in her throat, she tried to interact and communicate with people perusing her poster. When her session was finished, she packed up her poster and rested the remainder of the afternoon.

The second day of the conference, she was not feeling much better, but the fever had seemed to cease. Trying to make the best of it, she headed out into the town to see how much she could explore. However, little effort exhausted her, so she spent most of the time, sitting by the river enjoying the warmth of the sun, wishing she was in better health and capable of exploring the town as she had wanted to for long. However, by the afternoon, the days effort caught up with her and she was ready to head home.

As they came, the students loaded into the department vans and headed north on I-95. Missing her dog and her comfortable bed, she wondered if she would make it back to Savannah another time. A time when she could enjoy the town and its southern beauty.