Spring Break
Sleep deprived students struggle
Abby Davis
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: Ed-Op
It is a popular joke between my friends that college students don't actually sleep. They just take naps and extended nighttime naps.
In college, sleep just seems to be this mythical thing of which no college students can really grasp a steady eight hours. Or, they manage to, but their schedule is so wacky that waking up for an 11 a.m. class seems like an unbearable chore. It's hard to believe that only a few years ago, in high school, many of us woke up at around 6 a.m. to make it to class on time. But hey, we're college students. We have a lot of work to do and we need to stay up late to get it done. But, have we put sleep on the backburner to keep up with our lifestyles, or is it still as important as our parents told us it was when they established our bedtimes?
After doing several interviews, I found that although sleep still plays an important role in every student's life, many of us aren't getting enough of it so we can "get things done." We all know that sleep is important. It's common knowledge that a student who sleeps well at night is going to do better on a test in the morning than one who stayed up until five in the morning. However, with the chaos that is college life, it's hard for some of us to get to bed before 3 a.m.
Sammi Slusarczyk is a full-time student, a tutor at the Drexel Writing Center during the week and a bartender during the weekends. Slusarczyk has one of those living situations in which she has to pay for all of her rent and utility bills, along with managing college loans. Many students like her have to juggle the roles of student and a working adult who has to pay their bills on time.
"On the weekends I get about three hours of sleep, maybe eight during the week. On average I say about five or six good hours of sleep a night," Slusarczyk said.
Slusarczyk has also admitted that she sometimes has to sacrifice some of her school work and chores to get enough sleep during the week. When asked if she thinks she wishes to be able to dedicate more time for sleep, she says, "Yes. Of course!"
In college, sleep just seems to be this mythical thing of which no college students can really grasp a steady eight hours. Or, they manage to, but their schedule is so wacky that waking up for an 11 a.m. class seems like an unbearable chore. It's hard to believe that only a few years ago, in high school, many of us woke up at around 6 a.m. to make it to class on time. But hey, we're college students. We have a lot of work to do and we need to stay up late to get it done. But, have we put sleep on the backburner to keep up with our lifestyles, or is it still as important as our parents told us it was when they established our bedtimes?
After doing several interviews, I found that although sleep still plays an important role in every student's life, many of us aren't getting enough of it so we can "get things done." We all know that sleep is important. It's common knowledge that a student who sleeps well at night is going to do better on a test in the morning than one who stayed up until five in the morning. However, with the chaos that is college life, it's hard for some of us to get to bed before 3 a.m.
Sammi Slusarczyk is a full-time student, a tutor at the Drexel Writing Center during the week and a bartender during the weekends. Slusarczyk has one of those living situations in which she has to pay for all of her rent and utility bills, along with managing college loans. Many students like her have to juggle the roles of student and a working adult who has to pay their bills on time.
"On the weekends I get about three hours of sleep, maybe eight during the week. On average I say about five or six good hours of sleep a night," Slusarczyk said.
Slusarczyk has also admitted that she sometimes has to sacrifice some of her school work and chores to get enough sleep during the week. When asked if she thinks she wishes to be able to dedicate more time for sleep, she says, "Yes. Of course!"
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Sanna Carapellotti, MS CHT
posted 4/17/09 @ 2:45 PM EST
Thank you this article. It is a real problem.
One option is guided audio programs. You pop them into your ipod and are lulled to sleep. They actually help you to sleep better if you have less than optimal time. (Continued…)
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