Sounds like you guys are in that transitional period between school being extremely easy and incredibly hard. Having a sick day during this time period for me meant one of two things: either to miss one day and hopefully miss nothing, or go to school sick and tough it out (don't forget that suffering builds character!)
On a similar note, I have related ANGST: I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now instead of being on this website. I have ANGST because I can't seem to control my impulse to have fun over my impulse to do work. As explained before, if I fail this term, I could very likely be kicked out of college, but I don't want that to happen, so I'm going to see if I can get off of here and do some work..
I'm not stupid or anything, and I get all the work that I'm supposed to do, it's just a matter of getting it done on time (which means writing this paper before midnight tonight, or 1 AM central time).
EDIT: update; I have completed one major assignment (the one for the class that I have taken 3 times now!) Now to tackle that research paper (I have the info, I just need to write type it..)