For us UC students, finals week has come and gone, and now we have time to relax, be with family, and subtly freak out until our grades are officially posted online. This time has also given me time to reflect back on the hell that was Fall 2016 finals week.
I spent my week studying, wanting to cry, actually crying, giving up, really quickly starting up again after realizing giving up was a bad option, and also sleeping. That last one might be surprising to most, as finals week is infamous for not getting any sleep. But, to me, pulling an all-nighter to study is worse than stopping studying to sleep, and here’s why.
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Our brains cannot function successfully past a certain point in the night, and while this certain point will be different for everyone, it is something everyone has. My brain shuts off academically around 10 PM give or take, which is early and I don’t expect others to also feel like that, but most people probably hit that point around midnight or even 1 AM. There is a point where your brain will not be able to successfully learn or remember information. No normal human being can actually sit in the library for eight hours straight through the night and study and retain the information. A lot of that time is spent feeling tired, talking to friends, and reading over the same notes 16 times because nothing is sticking.
When you are getting delirious, having to pump your body with caffeine at weird times, or gross energy drinks (yes, they are disgusting, no matter what), that most often means that what your body needs is sleep, not another four hours of studying. Pushing yourself beyond your limit is not going to make you smarter in the morning or more prepared for your final, it’s going to make you tired. And what happens when you are tired and out of it? You forget things. Plain and simple.
A tired brain and body rarely produces great results. Taking a final is like running a mental sprint. How many people do you know that can run really really fast the morning after they stay up all night? Hint: your answer is probably going to be zero, and if it’s not you must be thinking of some weird, super human of some sorts.
All-nighters are exhausting, not fun, and not useful. I actually used to feel bad about myself when I would wake up in the morning feeling well rested and check Snapchat to see people I know at the library with the timestamp “3:23 AM” on their photos. I thought that because I wasn’t staying up all night studying that I was doing something wrong or not studying enough. I got over that feeling pretty quickly when I realized that sleep is so incredibly important for both my mind and my body.
Sleep is not for the weak or the week, whichever saying relates most to you, and it is actually one of the most important part of finals week. I urge all of my fellow stressed out peers to better prioritize their time during the day and start studying earlier, rather than feeling the need to stay up all night studying and feeling bad. I promise you that the results will be huge. No longer will you feel exhausted during your final, and you can actually retain the information better by doing so.
Sleep isn’t going to damage all of your hard work during the day, and our brains are magical places that will store that information nice and tight for you, to be able to successfully use it during the day when you need it the most.
