Apparently, students don’t get enough sleep

By: Steven Goodman – Asst. Opinions Editor

Recently I found myself in Kennedy Union, as I usually do when it’s lunch time, and I noticed one of the television screens by The Runway had a question on it: “Did you know college students are the most sleep deprived population in the country?” I imagined this was asked in the frantic voice of someone who was absolutely shocked at learning an unbelievably obvious statistic.

Of course we’re sleep deprived!

The sheer number of classes, extracurricular activities and work hours I can accomplish in a 24 hour period is amazing in and of itself. The fact that I can find time for sleep? It seems like an absolute miracle some days. Honestly, I should probably be sleeping instead of writing this right now.

All I can surmise is that this research topic, “Which population is the most sleep deprived?” must have been posed by a group of individuals who have been out of college for so many years that they cannot remember the sleeplessness.

Even just looking at the amount of homework college students receive should be enough evidence to convince them in the case of sleep deprivation. Not to mention the fact that many professors claim a student should spend two to three hours studying for every one hour he or she is in class. Yeah, right.

If that’s not enough, the standards set by internship positions I have pursued provide further proof. In listing the activities I’m involved in on campus, the service hours I have put in during the past year, my GPA and the courses I have taken, I get the impression that it can never be enough.

I often feel with these applications, and sometimes during interviews, that I need to have a perfect GPA, take a full course load every semester (which I must do to graduate regardless), hold a leadership position in multiple organizations and spend every other waking moment committed to service projects. Then, during some interviews, the person I am speaking with may be so bold as to ask if I can give him or her an example of my time management skills. Did you not listen to everything I just told you?

Of course I don’t get enough sleep: I’m a college student, not a wizard.

You’re probably under the impression now that I wish I could not lift a finger and still graduate: that’s far from the truth. I love every single activity, job and class (well, some of them aren’t bad) that I have been a part of so far and will continue to do so until I leave the University of Dayton. All I’m saying is that it shouldn’t be so incredibly shocking that we are a part of the most sleep deprived group of people in the U.S.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go take a nap.