Going into college I was so excited that I no longer had to wake up at 5 AM anymore to drive to school and could finally sleep in. However, getting into college made me realize that late classes just put me behind schedule. Waking up at 11 every day was not what I needed for motivation. By the time I woke up I had to go straight to class and by the time I got out it was already late in the day and I still have work to do. This would leave me no time to go to social events.

The less sleep I got the more stressed I was. I began to not even sleep due to staying up all night doing assignments and making sure I was prepared for my classes. The lack of sleep also led to major mood swings and we all know that is not what I needed. I didn't know what I was doing wrong. At first, I blamed it on my teachers giving me too much work and not enough time. Then I realized I had the time, I was just wasting it.

The tradition was kinda rough, I'm not gonna lie. I went from someone who never drank coffee to swearing by my dunking donuts iced coffee. What can I say, college changes you. I would go to the library or a coffee shop and do the work I was doing after my classes before. This gave me the opportunity to go out on weekdays and become more social. It also gave me more motivation to go to the gym, which made me feel happier and healthier overall. Even though I was getting up earlier, I felt more well rested than I had in a long time.

For anyone who isn't feeling that good during the day and kinda sluggish: Take a look at your sleep schedule, it makes more of a difference than you think. The day only has 24 hours and when you have a heavy workload those hours seem to pass by extremely quick. Getting up just a few hours earlier improved my mood and grades significantly. Honestly, if I had known that your sleep schedule could have such an effect on me, I would have changed mine sooner.