If you've ever looked around the room in one of your classes, then you should know as well as I do that sleeping in class is rampant here at the University Between the kids who are either struggling to keep their eyes open, falling asleep and waking up abruptly every five minutes or sprawled out on their desks drooling and snoring, I think it's pretty safe to say that 10 to 25 percent of students will fall asleep at some point in almost any lecture.
How can this be? Sure, most students don't get enough sleep, but they still manage to stay awake during the rest of the day. You could say students don't care enough to pay attention to their professor, but then why bother coming at all? This phenomenon was not as widespread in high school, even though kids had to wake up earlier, spend more time in class and were involved in at least as many extracurricular activities.
Now, before I go on, I must confess that I, too, am guilty of sleeping in class. I probably spent more time asleep in class in high school than anyone else, and you won't find one person who knew me back then that would tell you otherwise. While asleep, I've: been taped to my desk, had kids write on me, had water poured down my neck, drooled a wet spot on my shirt the size of my hand and, one time, even had the teacher sneak all the other students out of the room and slam the door on the way out so when I awoke I was completely alone and confused.
I could attribute all the time I slept in class to boredom and lack of interest in some classes, long nights doing homework and an uncanny ability to fall asleep despite noise and light around me. Back then, however, I was one of only a handful of kids notorious for sleeping in class. In college, it seems that all but the most devoted students are just as bad.
I have a friend who once fell asleep while a professor was answering a question that he asked. I have another friend who never slept in high school classes and claims it takes him an hour to fall asleep at night, yet sometimes he's asleep within five minutes in class. Again, I ask, what is it about college that makes students fall asleep? I think that somewhere along a student's path from high school to college, sleeping in class became more acceptable.
Your professors aren't very likely to catch you sleeping in college, and even if they did, they'd probably just ignore it. Other students are used to it and probably have fallen asleep many times themselves, so don't expect your peers to think less of you if you get some shuteye here and there. Then, once you've done it a few times, staying awake becomes even harder. Your body gets conditioned to sleep in classrooms, so anytime you're the slightest bit sleep-deprived, your eyes will start shutting on you.
What can we do to curb this epidemic? Ironically, bringing distractions to class might actually help you pay more attention. I know that I pay more attention to the lecture when I'm doing a Sudoku puzzle than when I'm asleep. Just staying awake for a couple of consecutive classes, no matter how you do it, will help by getting your body used to being alert in class.
I've also found that eating a substantial breakfast and staying physically active keeps my energy level high, so that the warm and minimally engaging classroom environment doesn't completely knock me out. But the easiest way to stay awake in class, of course, is just to get more sleep at night. Students have been hearing this for years, but it's true. I feel so fresh and alert on days when I got eight or nine hours of sleep the night before, but I just don't have the discipline to get more than 6 on most nights. If you ever get the chance to get a great night's sleep, then do it. You'll love how you feel the next day and you'll be able to pay attention in every class.
If you ever see me sleeping in class, however, let me be. I probably stayed up late the previous night writing this column.
Daniel's column runs bi-weekly on Wednesdays. He can be reached at mcnally@cavalierdaily.com.
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