Amount of sleep affects grades, productivity, health of students

She hits the snooze button—for the fifth time.

At last, freshman biology major Andrea Sherman rises from her black metal bunk bed.
It's 7:30 a.m.

Sherman prays each morning. Then she showers, brushes her teeth and prepares for the day before eating breakfast and walking to class.

She carefully schedules her time. Each day she heads to bed around midnight—before waking up around seven-thirty, eight to yet again begin the day.

Sherman studies daily, spending three hours per day on homework alone, but intellect and study habits aren't the only factors that merit high grades in-class effort and adequate sleep.

"You have to be awake to pay attention in class," Sherman says.

Sherman gets excellent grades—something she attributes to using her time wisely and studying often. She also thinks that sleep is a factor in GPA.

And she's right, according to a University of North Texas study.

The study reported that on average, early birds had a 3.5 GPA to the night owls' 2.5 GPA—a full point higher, making sleep more consequential then it may seem—especially with semester finals drawing near.

But not everyone needs seven or eight hours of sleep to function.

Freshman psychology major Michael Rodger sleeps five hours a night. His short-term sleep halts for 8 a.m. grounds crew work or class. Even Rodger thinks his grades would increase if he studied and slept more and had better organization skills.

So why does Rodger start his homework at 10 p.m.?

"I can't physically get myself to go to sleep before eleven unless I've done something detrimental such as pulling an all-nighter."

Rodger's a night owl in a culture that demands early birds—where 8:00 a.m. class or work is a staple in our society. He wakes daily at 7:45 a.m. before hitting the hay around two or three in the morning because his "internal clock tends to like night better," Rodger says.

Fellow freshman Kelly Wong's routine is a bit different.

Pen in hand, Wong writes out a timed schedule of her day during her first class. Her day is then fully outlined with times and activities—when to do homework, work out, eat—not to mention a separate homework checklist.

The overly obnoxious alarm clock hardly motivates Wong to wake up. It's the soft ring of her phone alarm that wakes her up.

Wong's a special breed of night owl. She's more organized and often gets her homework done before Rodger begins his homework. Both start sleeping around 2 or 3 a.m., and wake up before 8 a.m.

However, Wong, a Civitas honors student, finishes her homework early because of personal preference.

"I feel more productive because I get stuff done ahead of time," Wong says. "If anything, I see a positive effect [of the night-owl sleeping routine] because sometimes I feel useless when I'm up late and I study."

If she gets tired, it's because she got less than her average five or six hours of sleep. But Wong doesn't always view sleep as a priority.

"Everybody's hanging out in the lobby, [so] if I go to bed I'm missing out," says Wong, justifying her late night socializing sessions.

Dean of students Jim Bies believes that more sleep will lead to higher student GPAs and also have other positive effects on student life.

"[There are] three reasons why sleep is important: academic performance, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and it emphasizes the importance of being able to relax," Bies says.

"Certainly there's a direct correlation on hours spent in study and preparation to GPA. You optimize those hours by studying more in the morning, which means getting up earlier."

Even the sleep-deprived Wong gets good grades, stays fit and knows how to relax.

Whether it's hanging out in the lobby of Bergsaker Hall or making a late night/early morning Wal-Mart trip, Wong keeps her cool and her stress level low even without sleeping enough, and she doesn't even drink caffeinated beverages. It's the small yet motivating things that brighten her day.

"I don't like coffee and I don't drink soda, but I really look forward to my day, whether it's working out, my next class or a dinner date with somebody," Wong says.

The sleep-deprived college student averages just 6.1 hours of sleep, according to Cornell University's psychology professor James Maas' survey of 1,500 college students. With the arrival of winter, it's important to recognize the positive health benefits of simply getting enough sleep.

Sleep doesn't just keep students awake in classes—it can help build up immunity against illness.

"You are more likely to pick up a viral disease or other illness than you might not be as predisposed to if you are getting adequate sleep," Augustana student health nurse Brenda Blankespoor says. "It's a common problem on a college campus."

To Blankespoor, time management, study routines and sleeping habits are three essentials for a thriving college student.

"Look at organization, which things they could cut out to minimize the business of the day," Blankespoor says. "Good sleeping habits are mandatory for a successful college career, and time management makes that more of a possibility."

Even if the student isn't overcommitted, it can still be difficult to get everything done.
"I try to fit in studying between classes when I have enough chunks of time," junior Maren Peterson says. "Eating times are a break. I try to exercise a few times a week, and that makes me feel a lot better. When I'm really busy, that's usually the first thing I cut out, but I don't like doing that at all because I can tell that I just don't feel as good."

Although the classes have gotten tougher, sticking to a sleeping schedule has been easier for Peterson, who is less distracted in her single room.

"It's silly to say you don't have time to sleep because if you don't sleep, you're not going to be as productive with anything else," Peterson says. "It's going to help you."

There's no such thing as a perfect college student, but Bies believes that sufficient sleep is a simple secret to success.

"That five to eight-hour range of sleep is an absolute necessity to maintaining one's own health and really optimizing mental sharpness so that you can be the student that you've got the potential to be," Bies says.