The Lack of Sleep During Your College Years

If you stop and ask a college student if they’ve ever pulled an “all-nighter” to study for a test, or to write that last minute paper the response is likely, “Yes”. I know during the years I’ve been in school I’ve sacrificed a lot of sleep due to my procrastination and poor study habits.  The relationship college students have with sleep is something that needs to be improved in the years to come. According to Shelley Hershner and Ronald Chervin 50% of all college students report daytime sleepiness and 70% report they attain insufficient sleep. Those numbers are quite high, but not shocking to most. The lack of sleep for college students attribute to lower grade point averages, higher rates of car accidents, and possible failure of college classes.  Not only do GPAs and academic success hinge on the amount of sleep a college student gets, but the lack of sleep also attributes to altered, negative moods.

One reason college students attain insufficient sleep is simply because there is so much going on around college campuses. Both academically and socially, students can be overwhelmed with the prioritization of their needs.  Living in a college dorm is a blessing and a curse. Each pair of roommates have a different schedule and a different set of priorities. As the years go on, it seems as though self-care and wellness seem to go by the wayside. To fix this problem, the path is a two-way street. Universities need to adjust policies and engage in campus outreach to spread the message that sleep is exceptionally important to a student’s academic success. Also, students need to realize how much of their success hinges on getting the appropriate amount of sleep.

 

Read further:
Sleep Study

Is Sleep Deprivation The New Norm?

Connected Communities and Visibility – Blog 3

Connected Communities and visibility

I will present two blogs that I have been following for more than a month.
They are https://blog.sleepnumber.com/ and
https://blog.mnreadingandmathcorps.org/
The Sleep Number Blog stated that it was the Official Founding Partner for the Super bowl NFL season and dedicated last week’s articles to how athletes need a restful sleep and what kind of sleep number settings helped them achieve maximum rest. They also communicated their Sleep Number Station with full-on activation at Nicollet Mall and engaged the public who came to visit and sleep on their Sleep Number Setting beds.

In their other articles, they touch upon various aspects of life that deeply relates to have a sound sleep. It can be as simple as a bedtime routine, to cutting out caffeine, to eating the right kind of food, to decorating your bedroom to make it look comforting. Or it can be as complex as Sleep program accreditations and assessments which are scientifically proven. The blog does a thorough job of investigating all aspects of Sleep as a Science, an Art, and a biological rhythm of everyday living.

The blog subtly promotes the Sleep Number beds but not in an overtly in your face marketing campaign. It talks convincingly about the Sleep Number bed and how it can help you stay healthy through life’s ups and downs. I like to read this blog because they have a Book Club and showcase interesting books to read. This scores maximum brownie points for me along with other well-written articles.

The Minnesota Reading and Math Corps Blog

The second blog that I loved is the Minnesota Math and Reading Corps blog.
It is a simple blog with no fashionable art or sophistication. It speaks out to me, because serving in Reading Corps for four years was significant milestone in my life. It also salutes those who have served and currently serving. It is a blog of service to young children and how each member has his/her own story of triumph.
(https://blog.mnreadingandmathcorps.org/2016/05/learning-and-growing-together.html?view=snapshot) That is me and my 2 minutes of Reading Corps glory.

This blog places it’s focus entirely on the Tutors without any distraction or deviation.
You may ask why is this so? It is because the Tutors are the ambassadors of the Program. The Program has its independent website which has all details of the application process to become a Tutor and the works. The blog is completely dedicated to the individuals who bring the program to life. These tutors come from diverse backgrounds, but with one mission: To make a difference in the lives of children. The blog does an excellent job of delivering it in a direct and powerful manner.

In my analysis of the two blogs, I think they are creative hubs or online stations where the brand experience is communicated in a singular strategy. The Sleep Number Blog talks about the multifaceted phenomenon of “Sleep” and the Minnesota Reading Corps Blog talks about “Tutoring as a lifetime experience”.

The blog is available to a global community and I can reap the benefits of learning more about sleep patterns or the joys of being a tutor simultaneously. It is incredible how blogs are changing the way we experience life through the eyes of other’s who are sharing their experience and information.

Time to Sleep

When was the last time you woke up feeling refreshed and well rested since becoming a college student? It’s not typical when we have many classes, assignment deadlines, group projects, and class discussions that we try to cram at 11:59 pm. No one said that college was going to be easy, but who thought it was going to be this difficult getting eight hours of good sleep at night—I’m lucky if I get six!

One thing we constantly sacrifice as students is our SLEEP. There are so many negative effects of not getting enough sleep though, and it has to change… like right now. According to the University Health Center of Georgia,“On average, most college students get 6 – 6.9 hours of sleep per night, and the college years are notoriously sleep-deprived due to an overload of activities.”  It goes on to say, “Recent research on college students and sleep indicates that insufficient sleep impacts our health, our moods, our GPA and our safety.”

https://www.uhs.uga.edu/sleep

Sleep is crucial for everyone. Although we are constantly dodging it for more ‘significant’ priorities like catching up with friends to unwind from our drowning week of assignments, exams, and just a workload of never-ending deadlines, we need to start jotting down in our calendars to try get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. That way, we live a more productive and healthier life. After all, as Dr.  Knepler says, “Half the reason you’re at college really is to learn and not getting enough sleep can keep college students from their goals of succeeding in school.”

So, let’s get some great night time sleep and pass our classes well-rested.

If you want to get more tips and advice on how you can get more sleep at night, the articles below have some wonderful pointers.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/college-health/10-tips-for-better-sleep-at-college.aspx

Your Mental Health, You Should Care

Being a college student is stressful in itself due to deadlines, major projects, and weekly assignments. Many students work a full time job while juggling multiple courses and some students have families too that they need to take care of. Personally, I have had a terrible past year for my mental health due to a stressful job and major life events but I have recently been working on bettering my mental health by leaving that stressful job and starting a new one that is a lot less stressful with a lot of fulfillment throughout my day.

When trying to understand how to improve my mental health, I stumbled upon a study from the University of Michigan (www.uhs.umich.edu) that provides 10 ways to better your mental health and they include sub points as well. Such as, take care of your body by drinking more water, get enough sleep, or eat nutritious meals. There are so many important aspects to improving your mental health and even the littlest of steps can make a huge difference.

As a college student, I often stay up late working on homework or writing papers and then I work early in the morning so my sleep schedule gets ruined during each semester. Sleep is a very important factor in maintaining a adequate mental health routine. There are a lot of other factors associated with not getting enough sleep which are laid out in www.livingly.com

I wish you all the best of luck with improving your mental health because there is always room for improvement especially during the semester. I wish you all the best of luck and hopefully these links come in handy.