I'm a girl who loves sleep. I love having lots of pillows and stuffed animals (or as my parents refer to it: my semi-circle of emotional support) around me and twinkling Christmas lights strung around my walls. Everyone makes fun of me for sleeping so late. I would sleep until 1pm every day if I could. One time I even slept through my 3 o'clock class. I will never be one of those people who "starts their day" by 9am. Waking up at noon on a Saturday is the greatest thing ever, not a waste of time or EVER something to feel guilty about. I am a very lazy person too, but my love of sleep is not to be equated with laziness. If anything it makes me feel more active, healthier, and better about myself.
Which is why I absolutely LOVED when I got to college. Goodbye to being dressed and at school by 7:45. Goodbye to wearing real clothes every day. Goodbye to being in class for almost 8 hours a day. Goodbye to mom yelling at you that you're gonna be late every morning. Hello to sleeping whenever you want, and for however long you want (assuming you don't have an accounting exam in the upcoming days).
First semester freshman year I didn't have class before 10 any day. I also didn't have class until 3 on Thursdays. I remember by Wednesday of my first week of classes, 10 o'clock was already feeling too early. I finished my last class around 2 o'clock and came back to my empty room. I wrapped myself up in a blanket, laid down, and just closed my eyes. I needed just a moment to rest, however the next time I opened my eyes was 3 hours later. Voila, I had fallen in love with naps.
My whole life naps were something little kids had to do, or what my mom made me do when I stayed home sick. I never was able to fall asleep during the day, nor did I want to. Going to sleep always felt like a punishment for children. But as I got older I realized none of that was true, and that sleep is God's greatest gift to Earth.
The worst part about sleeping is the fact that you'll have to get up and out of bed eventually. I've developed a series of alarms to make sure I wake up. There's always the Ambitious Alarm. This one could be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour before class, in case I want to look extra cute, or want to actually do my makeup, or want to run an errand before class. Then there's the Normal Alarm. This one allots the perfect amount of time to get ready somewhat leisurely. Then the last alarm goes off: the one that allows me to stay in bed the absolute longest possible before it will make me late. Often this involves an alarm going off 13 minutes before class. One minute to pee, one to brush my teeth, two to put on a tee shirt and shorts, one to get into the elevator and down to the first floor, and then 8 minutes to sprint to class. I pretty much have it down to a science.
Sleep is restorative. Getting a good nights sleep and waking up well rested? Thats #blessed for you. Anyone who says they don't need sleep to function is either lying, or they drink too much coffee. Yes we're in college, so oftentimes we have to pull all-nighters to study for the biology midterm, and oftentimes we're up all night drinking tequila and still have to make it to our 8am. It's impossible to always be rested. But naps give us hope that we don't always have to feel tired, and being really tired is not a pleasant feeling.
So the most important thing I've learned in college? That sleep IS the best thing in the world.
