Most college students are both stressed and sleep deprived. Both might be more or less our faults. One is very bad for us, but the other one...could it be good?
Most of us know the feeling of staying up late, browsing our phones, then laying in bed unable to sleep. When our alarm goes off the next morning, it is next to impossible to drag ourselves out of bed. When we are sleep deprived, we are less able to function physically and mentally. Personally, my muscles ache when I don't sleep, to the point sometimes where basic activities, such as climbing stairs, starts to be painful. But, we do this to ourselves! This is a terrible thing that we do, by choice!
Stress, however, is less our fault. We have classes, jobs, maybe pets, maybe just cooking for ourselves for the first time, or maybe commuting an hour on the bus is stressful enough. All of these things combined? These pile on the stress until sometimes, it feels unbearable. However, at least for me, stress can force me to be productive. When I am under a lot of stress, I get stuff done. Sometimes stress makes me cry, but it also makes me work harder and faster than I usually would. I would rather be stressed out and finish a paper than be relaxed, not be motivated to finish it and then receive a bad grade.
We consider both of these things, stress and sleep deprivation, to be terrible. However, stress can be good, and the one that is truly bad, sleep deprivation, we do by choice. Hopefully, as classes and universities across the world begin, this article can inspire you to think about your feelings a bit differently.
