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It happens to the best of us. Sometimes we're just trying to help someone else out. Or maybe we find ourselves around the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time and we end up paying the price. No, I'm not talking about going to jail; I'm talking about getting sick.

We get sick for many different reasons. College students at big universities seem to get particularly sick, especially near the beginning of the year and especially those who live in the dorms. It could be because there are so many germs floating around (especially in public bathrooms...yuck) and so many people from different places attend, bringing their own strains of viruses.

Either way it goes, college students would be wise to get health insurance. Some schools offer their very own health insurance plans for students that are very inexpensive and are included in tuition. If you don't have school insurance available to you or you'd really prefer not to utilize those school services, consider local and state insurance plans. For instance, if you stay in Pennsylvania, don't got for any insurance in Florida until you've checked out available Pennsylvania health insurance plans. Though it certainly wouldn't hurt to have back up Florida health insurance options, don't discount something close to home.

If that fails, check out other health options. Medicaid and Medicare are government health care programs available to low-income people (although one of them is exclusively for senior citizens). Check if your job offers some sort of health benefits. In some cases, you can qualify for something like Kidcare, and some Public Aid programs guarantee you health care coverage as long as you're in school.

When I first started school, I opted for the school insurance because it seemed to make more sense to have it than not to. It was also a part of my tuition so I didn't pay for it out of pocket. Turned out that I was going to need that insurance a few times over the school year. I was staying in the dorms so of course if one person got sick the entire floor and anyone who visited got sick as well. It was almost as if the sicknesses waited at the door for us. The point is, I felt bad for the people who didn't have health insurance because they weren't able to go to the doctor like I could. They had to stay home and hope Nyquil and chicken noodle soup would help them.

You don't have to go through that. You can easily avoid potential pain and suffering by simply researching and getting yourself some good health insurance. You'll be glad you did.