Do you feel your eyes drooping, head bobbing and body swaying back and forth in your chair? If you have any of these symptoms, it's likely that you're suffering from sleep deprivia studentitus. While you may get away with dozing off in class in a highly populated lecture hall in the back of the auditorium, professors can easily spot sleeping students. Also, let's be real. Dozing off in class is embarrassing and makes you look stupid. Fortunately, as an avid night owl with a poor sleep schedule and a consuming course load, I have developed five (albeit not entirely full-proof) tricks to stay awake in class.
1. Drink a cup of coffee before class.
When I worked a 6 am shift last Spring and had a class an hour afterwards, coffee was my saving grace. I've always tried to avoid coffee, but after enduring the torture of my astronomy lecture with no sleep, I realized that a cup of caffeinated delight was my saving grace. Alternately, you can try to avoid working a 6 am shift if you have a morning class.
2. Have a mint.
Many studies have proven that mints help to keep you alert and focused. According to livestrong.com, "Peppermint candy provides a rapid source of sugar that travels right to your brain for refueling." I keep Lifesavers mints stocked up in my pocket as often as possible.
3. Assign a "wake-up buddy."
If you have a good friend that sits next to you in class, ask them to tap you on the shoulder when you start dozing off. If you don't have any friends, make some! That's what college is for!
4. Actively participate in class.
Sitting in class completely exhausted is tough. Sitting in class just listening to your professor ramble on about discourse communities or ancient civilizations is even worse. To remedy this, become active in the class discussion. Be sure to ask or answer questions, even if you don't actually know the answer. This method always seems to keep my mind off of being tired because I'm too engaged with what's going on in class.
5. Work on time management and get some sleep!
Believe it or not, sleep is the key to not being tired in class. Who knew, right? Of course, getting sufficient sleep is easier said than done. Especially when you have a 15-credit course schedule, work, and run an organization on campus. In actuality, time management is the key that unlocks the door to sleep. At the time of writing this article, I am still trying to figure this one out. One thing that I will try is to be more productive on the weekends so that I can get more sleep throughout the week. This likely means sacrificing what little leisure time I have left but I'm starting to value sleep a lot more.
Hopefully these tricks work out for you. It's important to remember that your personal health is more important than academic success, which college students (myself included) always seem to forget.
