George Kihara goes to work at 10 p.m. on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and gets off at 6:30 a.m. He works at the Arc of Centre County, an organization that helps handicapped and mentally challenged individuals.
"I get to sleep over, and when I have work to do I just do it when I'm over there," he said. "I don't have to stay up all night."
On average Kihara (senior-microbiology) sleeps about four hours. On days that he works, he usually goes straight to campus or if he has time, goes home to shower and take a nap.
"I'm definitely sleep-deprived," he said. "I'm always falling asleep in classes. I tend to doze or something."
Lack of sleep seems to go hand-in-hand with college students' lifestyle.
"Students are very busy during the day," said Kristine Clark, director of sports and nutrition and assistant professor of nutrition. "Many students have other commitments, so the time to socialize which is a big part of student life, is the evening."
Students need about six to 10 hours of sleep, said Frederick M. Brown, associate professor of psychology and director of human performance rhythms laboratory. Brown gave the example of Wilse B. Webb, a retired professor of psychology at the University of Florida, who referred to college students as "sleep athletes." They can sleep as long or as short as they want, he said.
Brown said sleep deprivation could also cause problems for students.
"Sleep deprivation, if it's regular, can produce other kinds of problems, such as a compromised immune system," Brown said. "Students are sleepy during the day -- they are not as conscious during class time, and they are not processing information as well."
Students often opt for going out at night over sleeping early, Clark said. Usually students who stay up at night are also loading up on calories, she said.
"Often times, additional calories enter the diet," she said. "They don't need them for energy or growth. It's a good way to develop bad snacking habits and to put on excess weight."
Sara Armengot (graduate-comparative literature) said she usually goes to sleep around 2 or 3 a.m. on weeknights and 3 or 3:30 a.m. on weekends. She works during the day and studies at night with the help of caffeine. Without caffeine, Armengot said she would still stay up.
"I'd just be a little grouchier," she said.
To stay awake, students eat, drink, take a shower, and develop ways to help them stay awake, Clark said.
"I think that people get used to patterns," she said. "When people are tired they've learned that if they just continue to stay awake, there sense of feeling tired will pass."
Kihara has tried out different ways to help stay awake, he said.
"You name it, I probably tried it: coffee, red bull, NoDoz pills," he said.
Ellen Purcell (freshman-secndary education) said she usually goes to sleep at 1 a.m. on weeknights and around 4:30 to 5 a.m. on weekends.
"I have late classes, so I get to sleep in pretty late," Purcell said.
Clare Nicholson (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said she has early classes and usually takes a nap in the evening.
"Sometimes I don't start work until 10 p.m.," she said.
When a student feels a need to nap during the day, then there is probably a problem, Brown said.
"If a person is napping every day for longer than half hour at a time, it's usually an indication that they're not getting sufficient sleep," he said. "They're wasting their energy."
Kihara said there have been times when he has fallen asleep in class because he felt tired.
"Sometimes I'll have to get notes from my classmates because I missed what happened," he said.
Napping just prolongs the vicious cycle because it gives the required energy boost for students to stay awake at night, Brown said. As a result, students sacrifice their night-sleep to study or go out, and end up feeling sleepy during the day.
"I wish students would realize the importance of sleep and try to get regular sleep and enough sleep at night, and wake up in the morning spontaneously," Brown said. "It would improve their health and ability to attend to their classes."
