Midterms: Where Sleep is for the “Weak”

As crazy as it is to say, last week was the official midpoint of the semester.  These past 7 weeks have flown by!  Like all semesters there have certainly been better weeks than others, but the midpoint is usually the hardest part of any semester.  Why? For one, you are beginning to burn out from classes and studying.  You are also usually filled with even more stress than normal and sleep tends to be on the bottom of your “to do” list because you have multiple tests all crammed into 1-2 weeks.  For example, last week alone I had 3 major tests and a quiz on top of my normal course workload.  Needless to say, I am still feeling the sleepless nights from last week this week. But it doesn’t stop there. This week I have a mid-term in epidemiology and a quiz. As if school wasn’t enough to keep me from sleeping, I am also involved in club swimming, SafeRides and Pre-occupational Therapy Association which all have meetings weekly.  I also recently started working at E-hall to help pay for school.  With all of these responsibilities it can be challenging to find time to sleep and stay sane.  What I like to do to keep my stress levels lower is to run or swim, but with all the midterms, I have simply not had time to do these activities. 

Thankfully, these sleepless weeks will soon be over and done with and I, along with my fellow classmates, can hopefully get back to a more routine sleep schedule.  Even though many claim jokingly that sleep is for the “weak” it is actually the opposite of that.  Sleep is for the strong and the smart.  As a Health Science major, I know how vital sleep is, especially in regards to staying healthy and alert in class.  From an epidemiological standpoint, lowering your immune system by not eating healthy, not sleeping or not practicing good hygiene leaves a person much more susceptible to contracting a disease. I am very fortunate that I do not get sick very often and in fact, have not been sick at all yet this semester, but during midterms I am always fearful that I will contract something from my lack of sleep and less than healthy due to my stress levels and busy schedule.