What do flying squirrels, opossums and Dartmouth students have in common? If you answered beady eyes and claws, you are sadly mistaken. We may not be rodents, but much like these furry fiends, we are nocturnal. Take a walk through First-Floor Berry on a Monday morning and you'll no doubt overhear people bragging about how little sleep they got as if they were boasting about their latest Pulitzer. Lack of sleep is something of a badge of honor in the Dartmouth community, a fate both endured with tenacity and complained about for what seems like eternity.
As an admitted sleep addict I find it hard to understand this concept. I rake in a whopping nine hours a night go ahead, gasp in horror, pummel me with tomatoes and have done so for as long as I can remember. I realize I am almost completely alone in this pursuit and thus I have endeavored to discover what makes non-sleepers, nappers and odd-hour sleepers tick.
Kayla McFarland '16 keeps what I've found to be the common schedule for Dartmouth students, the 1 a.m. until first class routine paired with a mid-afternoon nap.
"I go to bed at 1 or 2 a.m. and then I have drill at 7:45. I'll get something to go from Collis, eat a few bites and take a power nap," McFarland said. "I get everything else done after that. I guess I could go to bed at 11 every night but I'm usually just messing around."
For many students, "messing around" is the cause of sleepless schedules, coupled with the fear of missing out on evening activities. For those like Catalina Mejia '14, the nighttime serves as prime time to catch up on TV shows, proving that perhaps Netflix is the true culprit in our lack of sleep mystery. For others, the traditional eight hours per night simply isn't appealing.
Reed Harder '13 rarely sleeps eight hours at a time, instead making use of what he calls an "old school" routine.
"I'll sleep five hours at night and three during the day or two and six," Harder said, who typically starts counting his sheep at 3 a.m. "I read that in medieval times people would sleep four hours, wake up, hang out and sleep more."
For Harder, there isn't any grand solution to the sleep formula.
"Nothing particularly keeps me up," he said. "3 a.m. just seems like a good time to go to sleep. My days are like other people's, but shifted a few hours."
Few can claim a stranger sleep pattern than Ashton Slatev '15, whose days involve sleeping for 14 hours and staying awake for the next 33.
"On Sunday I wake up at 7 p.m. to do work," Slatev said. "I fall asleep around 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I wake up again at 7 p.m. and then fall asleep at 5 a.m. on Thursday morning and keep repeating the pattern."
His main reason for keeping such odd hours? Simple it's convenient.
"I go to classes, do my work and sleep," Slatev said. "My schedule really doesn't affect my social life. My friends and I hang out when I'm awake."
The only downside, he admitted, is the effects on his eating habits. Seeing as FoCo doesn't operate on a 33-hour schedule, Slatev tends to eat whatever he can during his waking hours.
The question remains: does anyone sleep around here? Contrary to popular belief, there are two groups on campus who actually do manage to catch some z's regularly. The first of these is the athletes. Morning practices and structured schedules keep these endorphin-accruing students on their toes and in their beds.
Brian Grove '16, a member of the football team, makes sure to get plenty of sleep, lest he feel the ill effects the next day.
"On average I wake up at 6:30 a.m. which means I get to bed early," Grove said. "I just have to get my sleep or I suffer the next morning. I would rather sleep in but it's good to get the day started."
Other students getting enough shut-eye are those who simply make sleep a priority. Among these is Katie Randolph '14, a committed eight-hour-per-night girl.
"I don't feel like I sleep a ton because I don't sleep extra," Randolph said. "I get eight hours every night instead of two every night and then twenty on the weekends like some people. I think time management is a big part of it. You have to make sleep a priority."
Despite the difficulty in acquiring it, getting enough sleep is definitely worth it, according to Paige Elliott '13.
"I wasn't good at getting sleep freshman year but last winter I realized I was so much happier after getting sleep," Elliot said. "Now I'm on an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. schedule. I've learned that if something doesn't get done it doesn't get done. Sometimes I'll get halfway through my reading and then go to sleep. My main priority is my happiness a nd well-being, and sleep helps with that."
Getting sleep or not getting sleep depends on what you want. Happiness and well-being? Catching up on the latest "30 Rock" episode? Finishing that psych reading? If you can't decide, just sleep on it.
