This Mortal Coil

“Sleep is for wimps.”

“You have a long time to sleep when you’re dead.”

“What’s more important: giving in, or getting things done?”

I admit it: I’ve said all these things in reference to sleep. My own sleep habits have been terrible since birth. My mother says it’s a miracle she didn’t simply smother me to keep me from crying in the crib–she doesn’t think she slept for more than four hours at a time for the first two years of my life. (My mother, on the other hand, could be a professional sleeper, and takes great joy in a good night’s rest or a two-hour nap.)

At MSMS, of course, despite my efforts at levity, sleep deprivation is no laughing matter. Students regularly burn the candle at both ends in their efforts to earn the scores they want in classes, participate in extra-curricular activities, and maintain something of a social life. I’m not sure how to measure the cost to their physical health and mental well-being. However, I recently dipped into the subject of sleep studies and found evidence that the price is high

Sleep scientists have for years advocated starting school later in the day to accommodate the hormonal changes in teens’ bodies. That may work well for teens; it may not work so well for the adults charged with educating them. It may also be appropriate to rethink the “school-life” balance. Is it possible to have students do less and achieve more? 

This entry was posted in Education, Science. Bookmark the permalink.

31 Responses to This Mortal Coil

  1. Xavier Lucas-Cooper says:

    At this point in my life, the amount of sleep that I get and the performance at which I achieve at is adequate. At MSMS, not all students have an early morning class that they have to attend. If they do, they catch up on sleep during their off periods (even though we are not supposed to). I do think that it is possible for students to do less and achieve more due to the fact that the status at which they achieve depends on the levity of what they are trying to achieve. However, I do admit that I owe myself some more time for sleep, but like I mentioned before, my sleep to performance ratio produces a beneficial result, so I do not see anything that I can change for me in this situation. On the other hand, the act of students doing less to reach greater things is definitely possible, if not for other students, definitely MSMS students.

  2. Geneva Hamilton says:

    Yes, I do believe students can do less and achieve more. As young adults, we are still developing and sleep is essential to that. Lots of MSMS kids are given at least one block off. I think redistributing that break in order for school to begin later would be great. If my free 4th period block was taken away in order for school to start an hour later I wouldn’t be angry. With the extra sleep gained, students would be more focused on lessons being taught to them.

  3. KT says:

    I believe that at this point in time, we are all just trying to find balance between study, work, hobbies, sleep, etc. Some students will find this balance but most will not. I would love if school started later but I don’t actually know how well it would help. If school began later, it would end later as well, so homework would be started on later, and sleep time would be pushed even further back. The start of school doesn’t really mean all the much for students who are choosing not to sleep at all. Personally, procrastination is the biggest reason I have for not getting enough sleep, but that is just something that I need to change.

  4. Alyssa says:

    I think that as a teenager, getting more seep and/or sleeping being able to sleep in later helps a lot in school. I would not be able to complete half of the work that I do here on the same sleeping schedule as I had going to my previous school. At my home school I would have to wake up every morning to be able to get ready and eat a proper breakfast. Here I can wake up at 7:00 or later and manage to get ready, eat a quick breakfast in the cafeteria, and still have time to spare. Some other students might even be able to wake even later depending on their personal schedule I believe that these few extra hours help tremendously, and without them I probably wouldn’t still here without them because I can also be a professional sleeper.

  5. Mykailla Foster says:

    At some point in your life, people are going to have to learn how to balance the essential things. Starting the school day later wouldn’t stop students from going to sleep at 2 in the morning. It’s best to make a schedule that works for you and start with the small things. Like when you catch yourself on your phone doing nothing, pull out your computer and wok on the mastering chem instead. People tend to prioritize the absolute wrong things leading them to have to suffer consequences. Coming from someone that has a full schedule, I understand how hectic it can seem at time but it’s all about how you manage your time, trust me everybody knows how to sneak in a 30 minute nap if they really want to.

  6. Bubba says:

    If you viewed the link attached in the blog, you will find a sleep researcher explaining the importance of sleep for teenagers, like us, during our adolescent years. At this age, we are going through a biological change in which sleep deprivation can take a huge toll on. According to the video, the amount of sleep recommended for teenagers are eight to ten hours, with eight being the MINIMUM, like making a C on your report card. The speaker further reveals statistical benefits of areas where school starts at a later time, such as the amount of car accidents decreasing 70% and school absences dropping by 25%. One conclusion made from researching the mechanics of teenagers is that biological changes in the body results in a biological clock where melatonin isn’t released until 11pm. This means that starting school later WILL NOT push a student’s sleep time further back, unless they consume large quantities of caffeine to compensate and fight the sleep loss.

  7. X says:

    Is it possible to have students do less and achieve more?

    Scheduling classes back an hour will not be a good choice for students at MSMS. There is a lot of flexibility in the schedules here, and many people don’t have classes until 9 or 10 am, and end classes at 2 or 3 pm. The courses are chosen by the students, so for workload, it is what they put on themselves. I do agree that, for me, juggling 3 APs, 2 Universities, and a variety of extracurricular activities, sleep is often not the priority. I understand, like most students, that sleep is important for the health and growth of the mind and body. However, the stress and pressure caused by today’s schooling tear that time away.

    It is not very possible for students to do less and achieve more. Doing less means not spending as much time in a class, leading to not as much homework, which leads to less information taught. The time taken away has to be compensated somehow, or else the overall knowledge gained is significantly decreased. This decrease can impair the amount that a student can achieve. Therefore, despite this imbalance, I believe that it is crucial for teenagers to be in an academic environment as it is.

  8. Ryan Holdiness says:

    I think that as the young adults we are just have to find the balance. We do less but achieve the same. My sleeping schedule has not been the best for the last few years and I doubt i’ll fix it anytime soon, but I still find the energy and time to do the things I want and I still make time for homework. It’s just about how much effort you’re willing to put into stuff. Distractions seem to take up a lot of time while doing homework that’s why it seems to take people four hours to do their mastering chem. when realistically it could have been done anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. The mental health of students is at a steady decline and sleep is one of the best treatments, but it just becomes easier when it becomes the normality around you when everyone is being slightly sleep deprived.

  9. Erin says:

    I think students could do less and acheive more. If we didn’t have so many classes, we could fit in more time to study for certian classes, meaning we could do better in school overall. Not to mention the ACT, PSAT, SAT studying we could get done that could result in higher test scores. I don’t think the school day should start later, but if we had fewer classes, that could make all kinds of good stuff happen.

  10. T says:

    That depends on what your definition of “achievement” is. We’ve been taught and shown from a young age that success is taking as many advanced classes as possible and coming out with straight As, that it is winning academic and athletic competitions, that it is material. Until our mindsets shift away from that, you can’t achieve more by doing less. That defeats the whole point.

    But it shouldn’t be like that. Every person is unique, and that means every person has unique goals and abilities. There comes a point when by doing too much, those things have no genuine meaning. It just becomes a title. There is not a strong, prominent passion for the things that you do. It’s like doing it to say you did it, and in the process, you give up your health by spreading yourself too thin.

    So in order to achieve more while doing less, students shouldn’t be expected/forced to do as much. Sometimes, it’s about the learning process and growing as a student and a person. The students should make the choice whether they want that 8AM or not. It’s difficult to enforce the later start at a school like MSMS though because isn’t that the reason we’re here? Because we’ve always been the students that went above and beyond? We can’t push the entire academic school day back an hour because that hour is valuable time for the students that would rather be learning.

    But it’s definitely something that should be in place for regular public schools my own hometown. I’ll be honest, those students aren’t going to be learning anymore starting at 8AM than at 9AM. Majority of them would most likely do just the same, or even better, academically with the extra hour of sleep.

  11. DJF says:

    I do believe that do less, achieve more is great in theory, but horrible in practice. Last year, I had a very open schedule. My classes started later in the morning and ended early in the afternoon, yet I still stayed up until all hours of the night. Starting later would not help students get sleep, because all we would see is an opportunity to stay up later and waste time. You have to learn to adjust to a more mature lifestyle. Keep track of what you need done with a planner, set yourself a bedtime, stop wasting time watching Netflix and do your work instead; you can balance your life better by doing these things. I am a senior with a full class load and tons of college stuff to follow up on. If I can manage my time, maintain a social life, have decent grades, a get adequate sleep, I believe anyone can if they put forth the effort.

  12. Kerrigan A Clark says:

    I think that do less and achieve more concept is something that should and could be implemented in so many schools. The most important place that we could implement this concept is completing state tests. If schools focused less on state tests, students would get more out of going to school. I’ve talked to plenty of students who have left my hometown school and gone to college, and they’ve said that they were not prepared for college. If schools focused less on state tests, students would achieve more in the classroom which could prepare them more for some of the most important tests like ACT, SAT, and PSAT.

  13. Catherine says:

    I don’t think starting school later because students will stay up late no matter what time school starts. I don’t know if doing less can allow students to achieve more. Perhaps if a student did less extracurricular activities, they’d be able to spend more time on school work and achieve better grades. I think it’s about finding a balance between school and everything else. I know at MSMS most students are involved in at least two extracurricular activities, and not because they have to be for privilege plans. Students at MSMS are so interested in trying new activities. However, when a student has three meetings after school, a tone of homework and possibly tests/quizzes to study for, sleep is not likely to come. Not to mention students at MSMS have workservice and try to make time to eat. I think it might be a good idea to put a limit on how many clubs/sports you can be involved in. Or maybe put criteria for how many clubs/sports you can do based on how well you’re doing with grades. Overall I think students try to do too much and push off sleep. Even if there was a way for students to do less and achieve more, I think they’d still stay up late anyways.

  14. Nathan Lee says:

    Starting school later may sound like a good solution, but a good number of students would likely still be sleep deprived and tired. It’s true that some students sleep later to do homework and study. However, there are many people who have bad habits and sleep late despite not being busy. Procrastination also plays a large role in sleep deprivation because starting work later means finishing it later as well. In my opinion, starting schools later would only shift a student’s schedule by how much later school starts than usual. For example, if school started one hour later, I believe students would tend to sleep one hour later if their daily routine does not change. It’s far more helpful for the student to develop a sleep schedule or rethink their schedule.

  15. Taylor Shamblin says:

    Burning the candle at both ends becomes a daily occurrence at MSMS. This makes it rather difficult to obtain all of the necessary hours of sleep that researchers have proven that young adults need. In fact, it becomes nearly impossible. Coming from a student who has not had an 8 A.M. class all year, it turns out that the extra hour of sleep just becomes another reason to stay up that extra hour the night before- working on papers or simply watching ¨one more YouTube video.¨ Other students, saving the few that never needed the extra hour of sleep, echoed how they, too, cashed in their spare hours for assignments and activities rather than sleep. Even those who do not attend schools like MSMS say how their sleeping patterns have not been up to par for years now. When I would ask them why they have not been sleeping their ¨recommended 8-10 hours¨, they simply say that they had more important things to do.

    To achieve this minimum requirement of 8 hours, children must go to bed at 10 o´clock and wake up at 6 (most public schools starting at ~7:49). The hours that children go to bed seem to become a personal choice. Parents trust their kids to go to bed after they are told, but during this age of instant gratification through social media, Netflix, YouTube, and the World Wide Web, children are more easily able to evade the soothing darkness of a bedroom with the awakening light of the LEDs from their phones and computers. This, in turn, places the control of one´s sleep cycle in the hands of the student rather than the school district.

    This means, children need to be educated about the importance of maintaining a healthy sleep cycle during their youth in order to execute proper sleeping habits throughout their adulthood. Children and parents alike need to take the information given by sleep scientists like Dr. Troxel, and utilize it to facilitate environments that ready themselves for a productive day with a fully rested and awakened mind. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

  16. Whitney Fairley says:

    The way to prevent sleep deprivation with a busy schedule is good planning. Lets say I go to school from 8-4. I have homework in 3 classes and a club meeting at seven. If my homework only takes 3 hours to finish, then my schedule will be more efficient if I do the bulk of my homework before the seven o clock meeting, then if I do it after the meeting. Waiting around to get things done is probably the biggest and most pain-causing mistake that I made my first semester at MSMS. Whenever I pushed back doing my homework, I was also taking away from how much sleep I got. This affected how much I payed attention and stayed awake during my classes the next day. This spiral of events could have been easily prevented if I would have planned my schedule to begin with.

  17. Linda Arnoldus says:

    I personally find it very difficult to balance sleep and grades. It’s almost an inverse relationship- the less sleep I get, the better my grades are, and the more sleep I get, the worse my grades are. Trying to balance achievement and my well being is one of my life goals, and it’s a hard one. Instead of changing school start times, maybe school should teach time management. I always hate it when my teachers tell me I didn’t have to stay up all night doing my homework and that I could have done it in a few hours, but it’s true. I know people who have balanced sleep schedules and orderly lives because of good time management skills. Although it’s a hard skill to learn, I think it’s well worth it.

  18. JoJo Kaler says:

    The balance of mental health and health of grades is a constant struggle at MSMS. Speaking from the perspective of someone who has AP Chem (my hardest class) at 8 am every single day, I do think the hour push back would help me personally. I am NOT a morning person in any stretch of the matter. Slowly grudging out of bed at fifteen minutes before class starts is my least favorite activity of the day, no matter how bad the day gets. This is a definite result of procrastination on my part but no matter how much procrastinating I do during the day, at night my brain kicks into work mode and can get things done due to the night falling and our natural teenage hormones. (bar days of soccer games where my brain and body craves nothing more than falling asleep in a nice bath which we unfortunately do not have access to). For me personally I would enjoy school being pushed back multiple hours. However, I know this is not close to feasible for most people. My brain is wired for late dinners and late night work sessions but some people (though it seems preposterous to me) are morning people and would love for school to start as early as 6:30. So how do we accommodate everyone despite people having different body clocks and systems? The problem does not lend itself to a one solution fits all type of fix. I think that a system in which students have the option of waking up earlier and having more time in the afternoon or waking up later in sacrifice for time later in the afternoon. At MSMS students have somewhat of a choice of this matter. Personally, there was ways that I could have possibly shifted my schedule to get an extra glorious hour of sleep, however I chose not to because I would have to sacrifice taking the classes available here that in part convinced me to apply. The choice was mine to make which was important, nobody likes to be forced to wake up early. Also, this would greatly benefit my fellow anti-morning people who are luckier with their scheduling or simply are taking less credits. Applying MSMS’s model of class schedules is simply impossible to implement in public schools for a variety of reasons. However, furthering an idea that has been implemented already at my home school may be the solution for public schools. At my home school we had a “zero block” which began 45 minutes before school did and was optional for clubs and getting help with classes. I think taking the idea of students voluntarily choosing to wake up earlier or later. I propose we add another block to the school day that would be optional. To compensate the 1st block or period of the day would begin earlier and the last block would end later. This would allow students the opportunity to take some classes earlier rather than later. I would propose that required classes for graduates such as English classes, required science classes, and social studies classes should be offered in this extra block as well as throughout the day. Not only does this allow for student’s to fit their schedules more to their needs it fixes the issue of sports and some extra circulars getting in the way of classes or vice versa. At my old school and most public high schools activities like band, soccer, football, cheer, and every other sport have their own block or period that could be replaced with an academic class. We could put these sports at the end of the day (you’re welcome to everyone who had to deal with that one sweaty football player who never showered after practice and always stank in your fourth period public speaking class) This would mean that football players and even soccer players like me would likely have to wake up slightly earlier, however with the current system at my old school I had to wake up earlier than I would like to AND wasn’t able to participate in the things I wanted to. I was stuck with the worst of both worlds. In this system I would have the choice to pick from the better of both worlds and would give students the option to optimize their schedules to suit their own personal needs rather than having a one size fits all wake up time for all high school students. There are two obvious problems to my proposed solution. One is teacher availability, however teachers at most public schools are already required to come into school far before before students arrive and usually stay far after students have left. (as the child of two educators who have worked in a total of five separate school districts I know this to be true). If this time was allotted to adding an extra class and the absolutely necessary office work time were moved into the day this all would balance. Furthermore, not all teachers would have classes during this added block and the previous status quo would remain for them. The second clear flaw is transportation. A large amount of parents don’t have the time to take their kids into school or the money to give their child a car and their children must therefore ride the bus. Having two start times makes transportation complicated as it would appear to require two times the bus routes. This problem, once again, is not a one solution fits all type fix. In some places, especially ones with a more dense population, the bus would have about half as many people riding and could therefore pick up more people and its route be extended. This would also help with the lack of available bus drivers many public schools struggle with as one driver will do the work of what previously required two. On the other hand, schools whose population are more spread out, that does not work as extended bus routes would mean that the bus ride would be longer and negate the benefits of school beginning earlier. The solution to this problem is far more difficult. Possible solutions may include carpooling, urban schools giving busses to rural schools to compensate for an increased demand, even consolidating high school busses with busses from earlier grades. For rural schools whose population is spread out the solution will have to come from the school themselves because each of these schools will have a unique amount of resources and distance between students. The best solution for this issue and many others is not a simple ruling that applies to everyone but rather something that gives students the availability to choose what they want, which benefits everyone.

  19. Eli Dosda says:

    Sleep is of the aspects of yourself that you give up at this school, as many students have proclaimed they are “all-nighter masters” in order to keep up the hefty work load employed here.
    I’m not always on top of my game, but even if I were, I really don’t think that it would be possible to finish every responsibility we have to fulfill in time to get enough sleep for our sanity.
    It’s a sacrifice that comes in waves, much like running a 5k or a swim practice, you really don’t feel that sacrifice until you stop. When you finally stop, whether it be from finishing all the work of the week or just stopping to wait for your next class, it hits you like a truck. That’s why a lot of students don’t even wake up in time for brunch on Saturdays, and keep in mind they’re open until 1!
    So we’re stuck in a perpetual cycle of working till our brain goes numb and chugging our coffee praying for no weekend assignments so we can use that time to recover, because if we stop before the week is over, we’ll be out of commission the entire next day.
    I never understood the saying, “My brain is fried” but I can personally feel the sizzle of my brain during the day as it’s working overtime.
    I’m glad I made the sacrifice though. By taking on so much tasks, I’ve been able to further myself to a greater capacity than I would’ve at home. If I went home, what would I do with myself until 3am (the optimal studying hour).

    To conclude, this entire think may not make sense because I’m still tired and sleep deprived on this snow day.

  20. Ellen Overstreet says:

    I personally don’t see the point in pushing school starting times back. Students will still stay up late to finish mounds of work, and they wouldn’t be able to get as many things done during the day because they will always be at school. It would be better to teach students how to manage their time well. (That may be a good, and actually useful, MSMS 101 lesson.) Good time management is a tough thing to accomplish, and I think it would be a useful thing for MSMS students to know.

  21. Samaria Swims says:

    I believe if you get enough sleep you can achieve many things. People need to start balancing their work load, and their sleep to have a healthier life. Sleep is an essential part of being healthy. Pulling an all nighter is not going to help you in the long run. I would love if school starting later, but students will still stay up late and pull all nighters. Nothing is going to change. If people keep procrastinating, they will not get enough sleep. People just need to stop procrastinating.

  22. Khytavia Fleming says:

    Honestly, if school started later, I would most likely stay up even longer studying for my classes. In my opinion, nothing can change the way we, teenagers, handle sleep and work. We are made and built differently. Some of us go to sleep at 9pm while others fall asleep at 2am in the the morning. In most cases for me, I find it better to stay up late at night studying for test and quizzes. It’s definitely not because I want to, but because I feel like if I sacrafice a few hours of sleep to study then at least I tried my hardest to obtain all the knowledge I could. If that makes sense? I believe the same amount of work will be achieved if school hours were pushed back. If school starts at 8am, I’m going to go to sleep around 1-1:30. If school starts at 9am, I’m going to go to sleep around 1:30-2:00, possibly even later. I see no point in changing when school starts. If you don’t sacrifice something for something else, then do you really want that something?

  23. Bertha Mireles says:

    I find myself, constantly wishing there were more than 24 hours in a day and stressing over my health. Time management is an exercise of self-discipline. After many years of struggle I’ve been able to cut my time in a way where I can get my work done and still get 6-9 hours of sleep a night, however I participate in limited extracurriculars and have limited time to socialize (which I honestly have no problem with). I don’t just work all the time; I also schedule at least an hour a day for down time. Sleep deprivation affects each person differently, and for me, it’s more important that I get a good night’s sleep than study a couple extra hours. Changing school times, might aid the sleep deprivation crisis for a while, but eventually the sleep deprivation problem will come back, and people will stay up even later.

  24. Catherine Li says:

    Personally, I have trouble sleeping at a “normal” time and have had these problems since middle school. I have always stayed up late, much later than my roommate or anyone on my floor. I start my work when everyone is asleep, and most nights I work until 2 or 3 AM because that’s just what works for me. On A days I have 8 AMs, but on B and C days I get to sleep in until my 9:30 AM classes, and I can see the difference in my mood on those days. Even though I’m not getting the recommended hours of sleep on either day, I feel much more energized on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I didn’t have to drag myself up at 7:30. Obviously, I can’t blame everything on the early start because of my sleeping habits, I believe that later school start times would benefit students. At my old school, we started school at 8:30, and I felt positive benefits from the change. I think it’s really important for teenagers to maintain mental and physical health, and one step to doing this is to listen to the many many studies on why we should have later start times.

  25. Chloe Jackson says:

    The concept of students doing less and achieving more is flawed. Maybe it would have worked in the 20th century when a student’s resume did not have to be a foot long before he or she even stepped into the real world. That is why I am not an advocate of pushing school times back.
    I does not prepare anyone for the reality. Unless your goal in life is to be rock star or lack luster YouTube you have to implement some balance in your life. (Unless you expect your mom to be immortal and helicopter you for the rest of your life).
    Your sleep schedule and pattern coincide prominently with the type of person you are. Not saying that times will not come out where you have to burn the midnight oil but, some people are just more prepared than others.

  26. t says:

    I feel that there is nothing wrong with the time our classes start, considering that we are a residential high school. I remember waking up at 5:30 in the morning in order to catch the bus! Sleep is very important to me. I try to get 8 hours of sleep, but everyone is not the same. It shows when I am not getting enough sleep. I tend to not pay attention in class as I should. Time management is the key to getting a good night’s sleep. Do your work early kiddos.

  27. Taylor says:

    I think that students need more sleep. From personal experience, lack of sleep affects the brain and concentration abilities. No matter how much you studied, your brain is so tired that it can’t focus during the test. You make foolish mistakes that you probably would have gotten correct with an adequate amount of sleep and a clear brain. However, I don’t think pushing back the school hours will fix this issue of sleep deprivation. Students will continue to stay up late and attempt to complete as much work as they possible can. Pushing back school hours would probably encourage students to stay up even later. From this, I see the problem stemming from pressure and the amount of work that students are faced with. I personally think, at least in the case of MSMS, that the solution is to change the work load rather than the starting time for school. Setting back the time does not guarantee that students will sleep. They will still have the same amount of work and will be just as busy. However, if the work load was even slightly reduced, students could have more time to sleep and perform better on more important assignments.

  28. Sophie Tipton says:

    We need a lot more sleep then we are getting. At MSMS, we pack in rigorous classes, extracurriculars, and try to have friendships all while procrastinating to the point some of us take longer naps than the amount of sleep we get at night. Coming from someone who has very much overdosed on caffeine on many occasions- 4 energy drinks in a day, am I right?, but I digress, we’re forced to make up for it. I hate going home and having my parents get mad at me saying I don’t sleep enough and blame it on staying up too late, but just as I am doing right now I’m up late working. That’s the usual here and if it’s not, then you’re paying off someone. I think teens need more sleep and need the chance to get it, but school also has to run for a certain amount of time each day, if we started later, we would have to get out later. this would give us more sleep hours, but fewer hours in the day to socialize, work, and do other activities. There really is no good solution for it. To get more sleep, we have to cut out other important things in our lives. So, Carpe Noctem and chug that caffeine, we all have to be up at 8 am.

  29. Emma Jones says:

    Although altering the start time at normal schools might be advantageous, it would simply be ineffective at MSMS. As I have read the other comments, it seems that the most common cause of sleep deprivation is our workload. If the start time was pushed forward, we would just get out earlier and spend the same number of hours in school, and our workload would still be the same. Our levels of sleep deprivation would still be exactly the same. More effective solutions could possibly include less homework and less procrastination.

  30. Cameron Thomas says:

    Regardless of how much I hear “grades don’t really matter,” I still want all A’s. I’ve went to some extreme measures to keep those A’s. MSMS was a really hard transition for me being that I came from a school where the course load was no where in the vicinity of this. Since I’m so behind I feel as if I had to work 5x harder than everyone else around me to achieve my endeavors because I’ve been put in a race where everyone else has had a head-start. So yea, I loose a few hours of much needed sleeping each night because during the day I’m working to build my resume (community service, club meetings, etc.) or writing or doing something to clear my mind because we need that as MSMS students. Could I try to learn better time management skills (one may ask)? I think my time management skills are wonderful. I always keep a to do list posted on my mirror, but my wild imagination always seems to take over when I’m trying to do work. I never can really focus until I have to do the work because it is 1:30 a.m. I’m not making excuses for myself; I’m saying that every student does not function or work the same. MSMS expects us to do all of these things: wellness, work service, extracurricular activities, homework, socialize, get an adequate amount of sleep, “have fun and relax,” (the list goes on and on). I can agree that there is time for everything that is expected of us, and it could be done by 12. However, there is no room for error… for that one moment you spend too much time socializing or make a mistake and fall asleep or get low on wellness hours. There is no room for humanity, the nature of us flawed creatures.

    I wrote a rather entertaining article about this topic on The Vision.Here’s the link: https://thevisionmsms.org/12338/showcase/thomas-sleep-deprivation-at-msms/

  31. Sleep deprivation is a major problem in today’s society. It is even harder to go to sleep when your phone is next to you at night, and it is constantly buzzing with notifications about what your friends are doing. Sleeping at MSMS for me personally, is not a huge problem, because I get a solid 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Last night, and the night before, I got 2 hours of sleep, but its no big deal; especially since I have so many classes to work for. Sleep is something I personally don’t need.

Leave a Reply to Taylor Shamblin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *