Don't be a sleepy head

I reluctantly lifted my eyelids this morning only to see the daunting, red digital numbers of my clock come into focus: 8:58 a.m. Instantly, every nerve in my body lurched to attention as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice-cold spiders all over me. I was frantic, I was horrified and I was precisely 28 minutes late for my photojournalism lab where we were turning in our first of only seven graded lab assignments for the semester.

This happens a lot. I sleep through the trumpet chime on my cell phone, through blaring music on my clock radio, and on some mornings, when I’ve deliriously slid the dials on my clock in a blind attempt to smash it into tiny noiseless peices, I sleep through static. Once I even slept through a near-tornado (meaning said tornado didn’t actually appear). My family, who was huddled in a closet underneath a mattress, wanted me to get my rest, so they said.

With a little research and mostly common sense, I discovered that I don’t sleep nearly enough. According an article on WebMD, most adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Over the last week, my average has been closer to 5 or 6.

As I read on, I found out that zeros on lab assignments are the least of my worries if I keep skimping on sleep. Sleep deprivation can lead to memory loss, depression, weakened immune system and an increased perception of pain. Researchers are also studying possible links between lack of sleep and obesity.

So, my theory: “You snooze, you lose,” is a sadly mistaken phrase. But that’s all for me, it’s past my bedtime.