School, a social life, and sleep: pick two

As teenagers, some of us lived our lives by the motto “sleep is for the weak.” I, for one, am guilty of following this mantra.

You might feel that if you get to sleep at 9:00 pm you are losing out on valuable Netflix time, but the opportunity to stay up watching movies until sunrise is quickly evaporating. Unfortunately, the truth is that summer has come to an end, and it is time to return to reality. All you have now are deadlines, meetings, and work — not to mention making time for studying and a social life.

It is abnormal for a university student to get 10 hours of sleep a night. There is so much to do and so little time—sometimes you do not even notice that you work straight through hours that are meant for sleep. Many students lie in bed trying to fall asleep, but find that their mind will not stop running. 

This lack of sleep has many side effects: you curse at morning classes, you yawn throughout the day, you have no idea why the university would venture to schedule three-hour lectures, and you often feel the most tired during the moments you know you need to be awake.  You might even fall asleep on the bus and end up at a station you have never been to before.

Caffeine then becomes your best friend. You will make sure you get up for class in the morning in time to make a quick coffee run beforehand. At lunch, you may opt for a soda instead of water, just for that extra bit of energy. You are grumpy and you yell at the people around you. You want others to leave you alone.

It is often said that students have three available options: school, sleep, and a social life, and they are going to have to pick two and sacrifice the third.  Frankly, as a student, it is often easier to choose a social life and work over sleep.

Perhaps work and school are more important to you — after all, you are paying for tuiton, textbooks, and living expenses. If staying in touch with your friends and having time for fun is important to you, then you have to make an effort to see them.  Sleep is often easily sacrificed when it comes to finding time to incorporate all of your interests and responsibilities as a student into your tight schedule.

So, get ready for years of coffee, tea, and tears. Everyone is different and will make different priorities, but remember that time management is key — and finding time to sleep, though difficult, is critical for achieving a balanced student lifestyle.

Mursal Rahman is a first-year student at UTSC studying journalism.