OP-ED: Help! I Got My First Period in Class but Can’t Find the Nurse!

OMG! I’m so embarrassed! Judy Bloom didn’t say it would be anything like this. I was in Oceanography in DRL and when I ducked out for a bathroom break, I pulled down my pants and thought maybe I shat myself out of boredom, but I’m starting to think that’s not the case…

I went back into class, but nobody had a sanitary napkin, and I know tampons aren’t sterile, so I don’t think I should put one up my butt. I wanted to cry so badly! I’m a woman now, though, and I need to learn to deal with my own problems, so I decided to retake control of the situation by finding the school nurse.

In middle school, my wellness teacher told me that menstruation is normal and okay and that I shouldn’t be worried. In middle school, though, the nurse was there one hall over to give me sanitary napkins and a change of panties if I needed them. My mother won’t pick up because it’s still 8 a.m. in California, and my Big is in a midterm. My friend is a nursing student, but she only has tampons, too! What the hell are they teaching them over there? I don’t even think she has a thermometer or a pack of stickers. Please let me know if you see the head nurse. There’s no way I’m going to CVS to buy sanitary napkins from some pervy cashier guy!