If there's one thing college students are familiar with, it's something they don't get a lot of.
So, that rules alcohol out.
We speak of that valued commodity known as sleep -- a necessity in life that we can never seem to get too much of. The problem for most students, and for that matter Americans in general, is we really aren't getting much at all.
Even in the most desperate of situations, where work takes precedence over rest, we often deny our bodies the sleep they need to function efficiently. And no matter how much caffeine we take in, that's a bad idea.
Believe it or not, your brain uses more than 20 percent of the fuel your body burns each day. We all know that sleeping provides a feeling of refreshment, a new ability to focus and usually something as simple as a better mood. However, we often discount sleep for other student pastimes: eating, studying and anything else we find amusing at approximately 2:45 a.m. on some idle Tuesday. Of course, there are worse situations, and that's where we usually hurt ourselves the most.
As long as college exists, so will all-nighters. Things happen, and so the inevitable work on a project the night before deadline will always be somewhat unavoidable. (Let's be honest, we all love to procrastinate, too.) What can be prevented, though, are the damaging effects to our health caused by a lack of regular and plentiful resting.
It's nothing more than a joke to think that each of us will maintain a regular sleeping schedule every night, the median time of which is roughly 8.5 hours, according to Dr. Kent Bullis, the medical director at Ball State's Amelia T. Wood Student Health Center. In reality, most of us are lucky to get that on the weekends. If we can't get our optimum time, though, we shouldn't just give up altogether.
Even the slightest amount of sleep can help the strongest night owl survive the day ahead. More importantly, that little bit of sleep can make a big difference in focus, attention and health. Denying our brains that precious downtime can spell the difference between success and disaster on that 11 a.m. exam.
No matter how little we get, sleep is good.
Although we'll always tend to burn the midnight oil, students still have a problem sacrificing any given activity or task in exchange for a few valuable and often horribly needed hours of sleep. It's a practice that, while it may seem uncontrollable, needs to be closely monitored. After all, too many long nights lead to increased stress and exhaustion.
In the end, that's just counter-productive.
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