By Arden Berry | Staff Writer
The start of the spring semester provides students with a new schedule full of 8 a.m. classes, activities throughout the day and late nights spent studying. After being on break, students find new obstacles and must adjust their sleep schedule around them.
Lakeville, Minn., sophomore Kate Kremer said she has taken advantage of being on break by staying up late and sleeping in.
“When I’m at college I’m one of the lucky ones because my major’s not as demanding as most, so I usually get seven hours at college, but then when I’m home, probably nine or 10, honestly,” Kremer said. “When I’m at college and I sleep less, I think I’m more prone to naps later in the day because I get so tired, especially when I’m working my brain in all my classes.”
Kremer said she usually struggles for about two days before her sleep schedule fully adjusts.
“It’s not too different of a schedule where it messes with my brain or anything,” Kremer said.
Hot Springs, Ark., junior Sophia Wright said she struggles more returning from one-week breaks than the longer breaks between semesters, as she has time to readjust her sleep schedule after having a poor one the first week back home.
“Usually, I just need another week,” Wright said. “In my second week home, I have a more established or regular sleeping schedule, and I’m getting up when my family gets up.”
However, Wright said this schedule “quickly deteriorates” when she returns to college.
An expert panel gathered by the U.S. National Sleep Foundation agreed that it is appropriate for young adults to get seven to nine hours of sleep. A study published in 2010 showed that over 60% of college students surveyed were categorized as “poor-quality sleepers” and showed a mean sleep time of 7.02 hours, just above the recommended amount.
“In addition to short sleep and irregular schedules, college students also experience low sleep quality when assessed by standard measures,” the study read. “These results demonstrate that insufficient sleep and irregular sleep-wake patterns, which have been extensively documented in younger adolescents, are also present at alarming levels in the college student population.”
Despite these results, Wright said the amount of sleep she gets a night at college has improved this past semester.
“My freshman year, I got seven to eight hours a night,” Wright said. “My sophomore year, I got five to seven hours a night. It was rough. My junior year so far, I’ve been getting eight hours a night.”
Wright said scheduling things earlier in the day and planning her assignments ahead of time keeps her from working as late.
“I’m planning my assignments ahead of time more so that I’m never working up against deadlines and having to push my bedtime later,” Wright said.
Beyond the start of the semester, Wright said her sleep schedule continues to change throughout depending on her course load.
“Interestingly enough, usually my sleep schedule is better around big exams because whenever I have big projects and essays due that really cuts into my sleep,” Wright said. “But if I have big exams, I’ve learned to prioritize sleep.”
