"The sooner you realize that sleep is a luxury, the better prepared you'll be for college."
This was the advice my best friend's older sister gave us during our junior year of high school. She told us that it would only get worse from then on. She told us to enjoy our freedom while it lasted. And I scoffed.
It could not get any worse than junior year, I had thought. Even now, I remember junior year through war flashbacks and gloomy Billie Holiday ballads. I even broke out in hives one night just from being a little stressed out. Ah. Good times.
The one thing that defined my junior year most vividly was my first time.
My first time pulling an all-nighter, that is.
Sure, I'd stayed up past midnight many times when studying or writing essays. But thanks to Mrs. Kanu's AP Lang. & Comp. class, the night before my 17th birthday, I stayed up past sunrise doing a project. This was just the result of an unusual set of circumstances, I told myself. The entire class was confused over this project, plus, I had procrastinated starting it on time.
Moreover, I promised myself that this would never happen again. No mater what assignment or test I had due in the morning, I'd always go to bed before the sun came up.
Needless to say, as I write this article at 4:55 a.m., sipping on a white chocolate mocha with five espresso shots, this was one of the many lies I told myself.
Now, I love sleep. If I had no impulse control or responsibilities, I could sleep in until 5 p.m. after going to bed at midnight. Just ask my mother.
I can sleep through the loudest snores and have almost slept through a fire alarm. (S/O to my roommate and hallmate for waking me up.) I'm no insomniac. My bed is my greatest lover, and I know he feels extremely neglected.
The point is, giving up sleep is not an easy sacrifice for me, but it's a necessary one. I know what you're thinking: "She just doesn't know how to manage her time correctly." And though you may be right, there isn't that much free time for me to manage.
"Free time" is not a term most college students are familiar with (unless we're up studying a dictionary of mythological objects.) Between balancing two jobs, being a dedicated member of five organizations (and a lackluster member of three others clubs), taking an overload of classes, trying to do well in those classes, the hundreds of performances, speeches, practices, and, on top of that, attempting to socialize with my peers, I can't remember the last time that I've truly slept well.
Last year, the lack of adequate sleep was so bad that my old roommate (who is actually the best human in the world, sorry Pope Francis) noticed and posted a semi-aggressive note on our door, demanding that no one disturb me with literally anything, signing it "Sleepless in Stetson."
Even worse, there are people out there ( probably you) who have schedules that are more stressful and crazy than my own. From being involved in SGA to Greek life, from demanding internships to honor societies, there are people out there who I honestly don't know how they function daily. And I'm praying for you.
For the sake of our studies and resumes and passions, we are giving up on the one thing every single person, especially adolescents, needs the most--rest.
Sure, we'll go out and party and binge on "Grey's Anatomy" when we should be productive, but that's only because our brains our so fried and in desperate need of distraction. "Grey's Anatomy" actually makes a good point about how surgical interns don't sleep and highlight the subsequent ramifications that negatively impact our own health and the health of others.
But sleep--sleep is one of those elusive treasures we can't quite capture, no matter how hard we try.
The very few times I've gotten to nap, I'm riddled with guilt afterwards, because those "nap times" were not afforded from a free schedule; they were the results of cancelled plans, missed meetings, and, to my professors' dismay, even skipped classes.
I'm riddled with guilt because sleep is a luxury, and, frankly, by looking at all the papers I have to write, all the phone calls I have to return, and all the studying that needs to be done, I don't deserve it.
The stress we experienced junior year was only a forewarning of what would follow. Yeah, it was hard balancing work with college applications and all that friend drama that tends to surface during that year, but, in high school, school ended. Even with extracurricular clubs and sports, there was still that mental escape when the last bell sounded at 3:40 p.m.
We don't have that anymore. We can never escape the work we have to do, so we get sick, tired, and stressed.
Even when we do get a chance to close our eyes, we can't ever really be at rest. There's always something that needs to be done, an assignment that's due the following morning, a job to do.
Because sleep is a luxury, and, like tuition, it's one we can't afford.
