Organizing your schedule can become a real skill early on in your college life. You're going to want to sleep in as late as possible, that's a given. But you also don't want to be taking night classes, do you? They're certainly not as mentally exhausting as a morning class, so maybe you would. As someone with an 8 a.m., I know all too well the morning fights I have with my body to drag myself out of my warm bed and all the way to class. However, that is not the only completely terrible thing that comes with such an early start time. Here are 6 other reasons why you should try not to end up with an 8 a.m.
1. Inconsistent Sleep Schedule
If you have to wake up at, say, 7:30 every single day, then you probably have a pretty decent schedule. That doesn't happen often in college, though. What's usually the case is you wake up that early maybe twice a week, and the rest of your days start you at 10 or 11. Now that can seriously screw your sleep schedule up, especially if you're staying up late because you're a gigantic procrastinator! Going further, the idea of trying to still wake up at 7:30 for a class that starts at 11 will sound less and less enticing every time you try it, and that snooze button may become a nice thing to ignore every single time.
2. Nodding Off
If you're sleep schedule is seriously inconsistent, then nodding off in class is almost unavoidable. Seriously. Waking up is only half the battle in the morning, since you have to stay awake and actually try to pay attention in class for longer than 5 minutes at a time. Otherwise, you risk missing a short in class assignment or attendance quiz, something I am too all too fond of. You're also very noticeable when you're the only one moving their head but not their hands. You don't want to be startled awake by your professor calling you out for this!
3. Skipping Breakfast
As a result of hitting that snooze button until you literally only have time to get dressed and haul it to class, you probably won't have time for a fulfilling breakfast. If you can, you may be able to snag a yogurt with some fruit or jump into Starbucks for a hot sandwich. But you run the risk of losing the social and even health benefits of having a real sit-down breakfast maybe with one of your friends who has a morning class along with you. If your 8 a.m. is also followed by a block of class time afterwards, you may find yourself not eating again, or for the first time, until hours after you've woken up. That doesn't exactly seem too exciting or desirable, does it?
4. Bags!!!
If you are someone who tries to take decent care of their appearance on a daily basis, you may find yourself plagued with another blemish: under-eye bags! These pesky, dark, telling droops under your eyes might even become a staple to your daily image, albeit and unwanted one. People may first start to notice it and make a quip about how you must have had a late night. Soon enough, they won't mention it at all because it will be commonplace. Your bags will live with you, and you can always feel them. Weighing down your eyes, potentially leading you to nod off...and you know how we feel about nodding off.
5. You Risk Looking Like A Fashion Mess
Let's face it. There are two types of people in the world: those who have no clue what they want to wear the next day until they wake up, and those who plan their outfit out before they go to bed. Chances are, as a college student, you're the former type. If you wake up at the latest time possible, this maneuver could prove fatal, especially if your roommate has the luxury of being able to sleep in past you. You find yourself throwing some clothes around in the near darkness of your room, and you probably have no clue the exact color of that shirt you're holding. Is it red? Pink? Maybe magenta? And those shorts you think will work perfectly, or just well enough, might see you walk out as a monochrome highlighter or a terribly coordinated middle schooler. That yellow shirt certainly doesn't go with your orange shorts you have for some reason (probably a weird party theme).
6. You May Find Yourself Napping More Than Ever
You're exhausted. You finally got out of your morning class, and have an hour or two before your next one. Your bed is literally calling to you to return and just rest your eyes for a minute. If that was your only class for a really long time, it probably isn't a bad idea to snooze for a bit. But if you have a busier schedule that day, you run the risk of sleeping through those commitments, some or all. Or, you may become way too comfortable napping so much that it becomes part of your life, and your friends see you less and less since you decided to compensate for taking such an early class. In short, don't listen to your bed! You will be very tempted to "just get those last few good minutes of sleep." They don't exist. Once you wake up, that's it. So just stay awake, try to do some work, and even attempt to make it to bed earlier tonight.
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