By Jane Fernandez
Many of us wake up and grab some coffee to boost our energy thinking that’s the best thing we can do, but eventually that coffee makes us crash and we are back to square one. Maybe drinking coffee to stay awake during class is not the best idea and sleeping, something we all do, is the answer.
While looking around my political science class I noticed many of my classmates not paying attention. Not because they were bored, but because they seemed to still be half asleep. It wasn’t only this class that I noticed my fellow classmates half asleep, but in another two of my classes as well.
A couple of weeks ago a classmate who sat behind me in one of my earlier classes fell asleep. He was not just sleeping like a baby but was snoring in what seemed to be a deep sleep. The teacher did not wake him up. Maybe the teacher knew that it was the student’s loss for falling asleep in class and not paying attention or perhaps he was trying to teach him a lesson, but the week after, the student did not show up.
He hasn’t shown up ever since. The point I’m getting to is: why sacrifice a class that you already have by falling asleep and having to drop it just because you can’t stay awake through it? I am guilty of falling asleep in class a couple of times but that has only helped me in future planning of my sleeping schedule.
Once in a while I feel like taking a nap while the teacher is lecturing. All I think about it sleep but what I don‘t notice at the moment is that by not getting enough rest before school, I am only hurting myself in the sense that I am not paying attention to the lecture.
Sure, it is natural for students to feel tired but most of us are getting so little sleep that it’s affecting our learning. Not only do we not know what is going on in class but, like the guy who fell asleep in my class, we end up having to drop the class.
So was it worth losing countless hours of valuable sleep time?
According to a study by St. Lawrence University on students’ sleeping patterns, some of the “short-term side effects of sleep deprivation include delayed reactions and tendencies to make mistakes.”
The National Sleep Foundation says adults need seven to nine hours a night, although the amount of sleep a student might need depends on the individual. We, as students should plan out a sleeping schedule that way our day is more productive and we feel rested and ready to learn when we get to school.