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All’s Fair in Tests and Rest

A successful college career on one hand, or a good night’s sleep on the other. Some would say you can only have one when you go to college.

Some students do a good job of managing their sleeping patterns while balancing homework while others struggle greatly. I myself, being a junior at Morningside College, have a very difficult time balancing the two.

Introducing one’s self to the college lifestyle when starting freshmen year can be a bit of a shock to many students’ sleeping habits.

“A lot of people told me I would do a lot more napping than I did in high school when I came to college. It’s definitely a big change,” said Morningside freshmen, Taylor Woods.

“I used to go to bed around nine-thirty, ten at night in high school. Now it’s more like eleven or twelve. I only get about six to seven hours of sleep every day.”

Some students rarely sleep at night, developing sleeping patterns like studious vampires and barely seeing the light of day.

“I get most of my sleep during the day because most nights I just have too much to do by the next morning,” said Morningside senior, Todd Carnes. “I only get about four or five hours of sleep a day, but I consider myself a freak of nature,” Carnes went on.

“I think college kids have trouble balancing their sleep because you have friends that are always trying to get you to stay awake. The difficulty of your major plays a big part, too. Being a computer science major, I don’t sleep much.”

While many –or most– struggle, some students are able get to bed at a decent hour, only to rise very early in the morning to commence their studies.

Take Morningside junior and varsity tennis player, Austin Grundy, for example. Every morning, Austin’s alarm on his iPhone sounds very shortly after sunrise. Then Austin jumps down from his loft and starts his day with no problem, regardless of how many hours he slept that night.

“I go to bed pretty early most nights, said Grundy. “I like to get up early and study instead of staying up late to do it. I typically get up around six-thirty, sometimes earlier depending on how much I have to do. I feel more alert and energized in the morning than late at night after a long day of classes, work, and tennis.”

“I probably get about six or seven hours of sleep a night and try to get at least one nap in during the day, sometimes only fifteen minutes, sometimes a few hours,” Grundy went on. “It depends on how much of a break I have in my schedule that day.”

Though uncommon for most college students, oversleep can also generate health problems. According to WebMD, sleeping too much on a consistent basis has been linked to medical problems like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, headaches, and even an increased risk of death.

“Lack of non-REM sleep leads to physical fatigue.  Obviously we all want to have stamina to get through our days of work and play,” said Morningside Director of Student Health, Carol Garvey.

“Lack of REM, which is the deep sleep that lengthens in duration the longer we stay asleep at one time, leads to emotional fatigue,” Garvey continued. “That means students are possibly less able to be resilient and patient and even empathetic to others. Lack of these REM can also lead to the development of depression.”

According to Garvey, on top of your health, sleep impacts a student’s performance in his/her classes more than they think.

“Morning people, or “larks”, average a GPA of 3.18, versus night “owls” who only average 2.84,” said Garvey.

“The not-quite-fully-an-adult brain needs eight and one half to nine and three quarters hours of sleep per night. When it comes to napping, it is best to take a short nap for like 20 minutes, but not longer than one hour,” Garvey went on.

“It’s better to nap BEFORE sleep deprivation as opposed to after. You can’t make up lost sleep on the weekends.”

For anyone having problems getting enough sleep on average, Garvey had a couple tricks up her sleeve to share.

“Turn off your television before you go to bed. Blue light screens interfere with sleep,” said Garvey. “Also, simply powering down their phones at bedtime would help a college student get better sleep. Also, when it comes to alcohol, one can help, but more can disturb your sleep patterns,”

“Remember, the rule of 8 means eight hours of sleep, it does not mean 3 hours of sleep and 5 red bulls.”

With careful time management, there really is a way for us college students to have our cake and eat it, too. The tricky part is careful time management, which is easier said than done, with deadlines everywhere we look.

~ by Jordan on .

One Response to “All’s Fair in Tests and Rest”

  1. So we’re reviewing these in class, in case you’re wondering why I’m being creepy and commenting…
    “studious vampires…” fantastic phrase. cracked me up.
    I’m not sure why, but I really liked the Grundy interview bit.