Get more sleep, get better grades

If you’ve been worried about your GPA, sleep on it.

According to a recent study through Brown University, as cited in an article titled "Study shows college students in poor sleep pattern" by Jazmine Pendleton, "Seven to eight hours of sleep is the recommended amount that a college student is to have every night, but on average, college students get about six hours per night."

College life can get chaotic, and when students are trying to fit in class attendance, work, studying, and a social life, where does sleep fit into the equation?

The key to being at your peak performance, both mentally and physically, is to make time for at least eight hours of sleep every night.

Partying is another factor. For better or for worse, it’s a part of the college atmosphere and always will be. But finding the balance between a social life and an academic life is vital for successful time spent in school. It’s just hard to stay up all night and then wake up enthused for classes that day. Your brain is much more useful for a test when it has had an adaquate night sleep the night before than when you stay up all night studying.
Duke University, in North Carolina, went as far as creating "The Oasis" on their campus. The Oasis is a calm, quiet room where students can go to relax and forget about the stress. The room offers massage chairs, floor-to-ceiling windows and a water fountain.

UVSC has the Student Center with Love Sacs, plenty of cushioned chairs and a big screen for those students that need a calm place to unwind.

Linda Slater Dowling is a certified natural health professional. She is also the CEO and founder of the Nutritional Institute. She posted the article "Waking Up to the Benefits of Sleep" in 2005 on her Web site, studentformula.com

It is a Web site focused on helping students succeed. She discusses how a lack of sleep can affect every aspect of life and leads to anything, from being less productive and crabby, to depression and obesity, in some cases.

So, while en route to your dreams, whatever they may be, remember to get some sleep.