Ashley Thompson | Features Writer
Classes started on a Tuesday instead of a Monday morning after a long winter break, and many students are waking up with broken sleep schedules.
Whether it was spent binge-watching the latest episodes of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” or adventuring anywhere and everywhere, a long break leads to a new sleep pattern. Who would want sleep when there is finally the free time to relax and adventure without the stress of the next paper or exam? Over a long break like winter break, there can be much more to be done than a person’s usual obligations.
Some students would say they had a normal sleep schedule over break, but others lean towards the opposite side. Freshmen communications major D’vontay Banks said, “My sleep schedule is literally all over the place. I definitely do not look forward to having bags under my eyes the first day of school.”
According to Walter A. Brown’s article on psychriatictimes.com, “Broken Sleep May Be Natural Sleep,” in the past people used to sleep in two rounds. There was a first sleep and a second sleep, and during the break between the two, people would get up and do household chores, hang out with friends or just kill the time.
It was a widely acknowledged sleep pattern until it got lost to the current era of sleeping routines. Maybe breaking a sleep schedule is not too abnormal.
With classes coming back and some students getting up early in the morning again, broken sleep schedules become a nightmare. It is drilled into the human brain that eight hours of sleep is a necessity to function.
“I’m going to be mess when classes start again. I’ve been staying up until 4 a.m. and waking up at 2 p.m. over break. Its horrible,” freshmen biology major Taylor Freeze said.
With the pressure of returning classes, sleep becomes more of a conversation topic.
“My friend and I were recently talking about how messed up our sleep schedules have gotten over this break,” Banks said.
Maybe sleep schedules get thrown off, and work can get stressful, but there is also an experience in itself to adjust back to school and the community around you.
“Coming back to school has been really nice, I’ve missed it. Going home and sleeping all day had its perks, but now every day is busy with either schoolwork or hanging out with my friends and its great. Before my 8 a.m. classes, I’ll probably be thinking otherwise, but at the end of the day it’s all worth it,” freshmen elementary education major Ashley Levasseur said.
It is not the best thing for a sleep schedule to get broken, by jet lag or a long break from classes, but it is a common occurrence. There is always so much a person wants to do over break and so little time.
Binge-watching a TV show takes work, and next thing you know it could be midnight. Maybe too much time was spent with friends, trying to burn through the latest video games or finishing another artistic side project.
However, breaks are supposed to be enjoyed, and a messy sleep schedule come class time might just be worth a satisfying break.
