Are there times when you just wish spring would end so you can breathe again? Well, people with year-round allergies have to deal with the constant threat of allergens, no matter the season. Samantha Ness, sophomore, has multiple year-round allergies such as tree nuts, pollen, dogs, cats, and trees.

“I was in Florida, I think over the summer, two years ago. There was this lotion at my grandma’s house and my face was super sunburnt. So I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to put this on’,” Ness said. “But it turns out it was almond oil lotion. I put it all over my face, so it puffed up really bad and we had to go to the hospital to get a shot.”

All of Ness’ allergies appear in her life as hazards that she has to avoid, which according to her, can be a challenge sometimes.

“My mom always makes me take my allergy pills and then everywhere I go, she’s like, you need to bring some with you every time. Allergies make me [unable to] be around certain things that everyone else can, so sometimes it’s kind of hard,” Ness said.

Not only do her allergies affect her ability to be around specific things, but they affect what she can and cannot eat.

“One time at my grandma’s birthday dinner, I ordered this ravioli thing and it was in pesto sauce, and I didn’t realize that they cook it in pine nuts. So then my mom saw and she was like, ‘Wait, is that pesto sauce?’ and I was like, ‘yeah, it’s good, right?’ And then she was like, ‘That’s cooked in pine nuts.’ So we had to send it back and it was really embarrassing,” Ness said.

Another drawback of allergies, according to Ness, is that they also have an effect on foods that she is not technically allergic to, such as apples.

“I’m not completely allergic to apples, but it’s the pollen from the trees that gets into it. So when I eat them my gums and throat [get] super itchy,” Ness said.

It can get easier though. For Ness, she got older and learned what was okay and what was not, despite still making some mistakes even now, according to her.

“It’s pretty easy now, it’s just certain foods I have to avoid,” Ness said. “When I was younger [though], I didn’t really know what the certain foods or items looked like or like what they were in as far as food goes, so I [naturally] had [issues].”