Jessica Wright
Editor-in-chief
Many have heard the sarcastic, even concerned, comments adults make toward college students concerning our sleeping schedules. They often go something like this: “you’re just on a different schedule than the rest of the world,” or “how do you function that way?” And honestly, most of us often wonder ourselves.
In fact, college-aged students do seem to be on a different schedule than the rest of society. Juggling classes, exams, projects, multiple jobs, sports, extracurriculars, relationships, graduate schools and the future in general is no easy task. Students often wake up for class or practice immediately thinking, “When is the next time I can nap today?” (Don’t deny it!)
According to the University of Georgia’s Health Center, most college students get an average of 6-6.9 hours of sleep per night, which highly impacts a person’s performance in various aspects of life.
“Recent research on college students and sleep indicates that insufficient sleep impacts our health, our moods, our GPA and our safety,” the Health Center Web site stated.
Mary Shotwell Smith, or “Nurse Mary” as most students know her, strongly believes in the importance of getting the proper amount of sleep, which the National Sleep Foundation states is about seven to nine hours per night for adults.
“Students have to be alert for class, and if they do not get enough sleep, they won’t be as awake and as aware,” said Smith. “It also affects their ability to make good decisions. You’re just not at your peak performance when you don’t get enough sleep.”
However, attempts to ‘balance life’ often leave students extremely sleep deprived and desperate for any form of caffeine or source of energy to stay awake. Seven to nine hours of sleep is just honestly not going to happen , or even be possible, all the time.
Junior communication major Deandra Washington is involved in countless activities such as residence life, cheerleading, SOS, and three off-campus jobs. Her involvement with many activities leaves her time for an average of about four to five hours of sleep per night. Washington says that, though she has been functioning this way for a while, she is aware that her lack of sleep affects her participation in the classroom.
“Since I have had this habit for so long, it doesn’t affect me as bad, but I know the damages it can do to me in a classroom,” said Washington. “A lack of sleep doesn’t provide students with full focus and the attention needed in a classroom or even on the job setting.”
Because of this deprivation of shut-eye, college students often struggle to keep focus. We type our papers with our eyes half open. We read that same page again and again, struggling to make sense of what our minds are tiresomely skimming. Then finally, caffeine seems to be the only answer, and many of us turn to shots of espresso or energy drinks in the wee hours of the night just to make it to the next day.
As a nurse, Smith is greatly aware of the negative effects excessive amounts of caffeine can have on the body. Smith says that caffeine increases heart rates, causes hypertension and jitteriness and, because caffeine is a stimulant, makes it hard for students to sleep when they want to. Yet, caffeine seems to be a necessity for many college students across the nation. But is there another option?
Smith says that although she thinks large amounts of caffeine, particularly five-hour energy and energy drinks, is bad for the body, she remembers having to try and stay awake while in class and therefore empathizes with students who often turn to caffeine.
“Personally, I don’t think they [energy drinks] are good for the body, and I’m against it for everyday use,” said Smith. “But there were times when I had been in college and I had to stay awake, and so my ‘energy drinks’ were coffee and coke.”
So, it seems even the nurse can’t always say no to the lure of short-lived energy.
Washington, however, is one student who chooses to not drink coffee or energy drinks and has learned other ways such as “chewing gum or drinking a Gatorade” to keep herself alert.
“They [energy drinks] provide such a negative effect and reaction several hours after the drinks leave the body, and they make you crash at times you least expect it,” said Washington. “Because I don’t drink either one, I usually go and throw water on my face in between classes, and engaging in class also helps to stay awake.”
