Focus.

Focus.

Focus.

You listen to the teacher and try to make their words sound interesting and different in your head to entertain yourself. You want to slap yourself awake but you're afraid people will turn around and look at you weirdly. You do it anyways. You breathe in and shake your head, trying to focus your eyes on the board, but just as you do that, your body fights back with an immense wave of grueling lethargy.

For me and many of my friends, a sleepy day in class is quite a familiar story. You fight back the will to sleep and think you're doing a great job but from an outside perspective, you could be leaning forward with your neck, mouth gaping wide open, eyes half closed — a peaceful slumber on an unwitting student. It's like there's a sleeping fairy just pouring pounds of dust on you, taking away all your energy and will to stay awake.

Sometimes, I wonder why teachers yell at us when we sleep. Of course, it's disrespectful that students don't even make an effort to stay awake. But sometimes, there could be valid reasons that students often don't want to talk about, especially issues regarding mental health.

I remember I had high school teachers who would wake sleeping students up and make them take a walk outside to get them refreshed and others who would slam heavy textbooks down on the students' desks, carefully avoiding the students' faces. Every teacher has their own way. Some a lot less problematic than others.

And as for students, honestly speaking, I get how students would want to make fun of someone when they catch someone getting their shut-eye, but next time you see a student sleeping in class — try not being so quick to make fun or judge. It could be because the student may find it hard to sleep when everyone else is sleeping.