Here’s a harsh reality for students who have been enjoying their summer vacation without stressing over homework or the next morning’s impending 8 a.m. class: it’s coming to an end.
Welcome weekend is now approximately one month away, meaning that a sleep schedule that finds you drifting off at 4 a.m. and waking just in time for dinner is no longer going to fly unless you’ve been blessed with a class schedule that panders to nocturnal animals.
Readjusting your sleep schedule to become a functioning member of daytime society again is a necessary step when going back to school. Sure, you may miss out on binge-watching Netflix into the wee hours of night, but let’s be honest, you’d already finished Daredevil and the new season of Orange is the New Black weeks ago anyway.
In my opinion, there are two ways to accomplish this goal. A slow, gradual shift back to normalcy is the easy way to right your sleep schedule. However, you can also take on the difficult yet immediately effective route by forcing yourself to wake up early and facing exhaustion all day so that you’re tired enough to fall asleep at a reasonable time.
Forcing yourself to wake up unnecessarily early is the quickest way to get your sleep schedule back on track.
We live in a society that demands immediate results, so I foresee many students leaning towards the second choice. That is, if they don’t just skip the first day of class altogether.
Of course, there are also some advantages to avoiding the sun. For example, “moon burn” is far less prevalent than sunburn, and you’re way less likely to develop skin cancer from distant stars than you are from our solar system’s traitorous burning ball.
Plus, you’re way less likely to meet Batman during the day. Sunshine just isn’t his thing.
Despite a heightened risk of skin damage and a lack of caped crusaders, you have to accept the fact that returning to school also means retaking the day. So slap on some SPF 50, set an early alarm and dust off the coffee machine, because no matter what preparations you make, you will never consistently get an adequate amount of sleep in college.