Why Did I Think Early Classes Were a Good Idea?
It’s Been a Week and I’m Already Exhausted
Every semester, I do the exact same thing.
While making my class schedule, I always pick classes way too early in the day, even though it takes me a while to get to class since I live on the South Shore, and I am definitely not sleeping enough to not show up at a quarter to nine groggy and not at all ready to pay attention, let alone learn something from the class I’m paying for.
So why do I keep taking these classes in the first place if I’m just going to feel like garbage in them? Maybe it’s because when I was a kid, I was much more of a morning person. Granted, it’s probably because when I was seven years old, I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to get to elementary school before eight o’clock.
Now, it’s out of the ordinary if I’m in bed before 1 a.m. , for a variety of reasons (working late or even overnight, anxiety, you get the gist). Of course, that means I get up at times that you could technically call the morning.
Except, I obviously can’t wake up at noon when I have class before 9 a.m. But since I’ve screwed up my sleep pattern so much, I can’t go to bed earlier, either. Thus, the cycle of poor sleep perpetuates into infinity as soon as class starts.
Of course, I kinda have nobody to blame for this than myself. I’m the one who keeps thinking taking classes at 8:45 a.m. when I don’t even live on the island is a good idea. Spoiler alert: despite how interesting or not the class is, it’s never been worth it.
It’s a pretty bad sign when the bus has become my second bed. Here’s a tip for the best spot on for when you’re trying to catch up on some sleep on an RTL bus, by the way: go to the back of the section before the stairs on the bus, and sit on the driver side seat by the window, put your head against the back wall, and let the rumbling of tires on the Champlain Bridge rock you to sleep. Your unrested body will thank you (or curse you for napping in the middle of the day when it’s time to actually go to bed).
Much like many aspects of my life, I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to sleep. But hey, maybe with an article to remind me that this current sleep/school balance is unsustainable will change my ways. Or, more likely, I’m still gonna take that history class at 8:45 a.m. next year.
