Easily the most destructive force against a successful college experience is sleep.
Or, rather, the lack of sleep.
95.7% of all fail college endeavors - such as late homework assignments, skipped classes, failed papers, mental fogginess, prevailing exhaustion, packed parking garages, poor notes, etc - are a direct result of sleep deprivation.
Sleep deprivation is where you lack sleep to such an extent that you run the risk of losing coherency. This can occur through a number of different situations; late nights doing homework, late nights not doing homework, early morning classes, afternoon classes, evening classes, night classes, and more. Truth be told, sleep is hard for college students to achieve.
Case in point: I have been working on this post for two weeks. Two, long, kinda blurry, sleep deprived, exhaustive weeks.
Sleeping, as a student will discover in psychology or physiology courses, is kind of necessary for, you know, life. Going through the proper stages and achieving satisfactory REM sleep is essential for optimal brain function, immune strength, and mental stability. Consequently, as they might tell you in psychology, depriving someone of REM sleep is the easiest and most effective form of brainwashing. True story.
The main cause for lack of sleep is, unsurprisingly, school. Classes that begin early, last long, start late, and pile on mountains of homework are inhibitors that prevent students from getting enough sleep. Homework can be time consuming and the first source of time that students delve into to finish late work is the time spent sleeping. Regrettably, this normally ends up with low-quality work and a tired, incoherent student.
Another cause for sleep deprivation is socialization. College is a time were students are encouraged by their peers to "forget about school" and "come hang out." While relatively few college students actually have a work ethic, even fewer have the ability to stand up to their friends and stay at home studying instead of going out. Understandably, a majority of students spend their free time out with other people, often until late (or early) hours of the night. This may cause sleep deprivation in and of itself, or it may cause homework to be late causing the student to stay up finishing which may cause them to lose sleep. Either way, *yawn*.
When a student is sleep deprived, they will attempt to make up their lost time in various ways and locations. There is the zonks-out-in-the-library sleeper. This student will deposit his or her backpack onto the nearest surface, grab a table if one is available, slouch down, and sleep. While they should be commended for their bravery, one can only hope that no one robs them in their sleep. There is the nods-off-during-class sleeper. This guy (its typically a guy) is funny. Normally, this student will establish a routine of coming in late, complaining about being tired, or just being generally out of it. Part way during class, this student will slouch down in their seat a bit, begin to sluggishly frown towards the front, and slowly their head will begin to bob towards their chest. If the teacher doesn't make any sudden noises or attempt to wake them up, they may actually begin to snore. While you chortle, you may take note to not let this happen to you.
Sleep is important. Not only does it help you re-energize yourself, it can keep you awake during class, help you get homework done on time, and it can help you make quality decisions. And while that bench outside your classroom might look comfortable, take the time and effort to get effective sleep, preferably in your own bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment