Late-night studying leaves students sleepless at KU
By Sara Veatch, Denise Neil
Mickie Schultz woke up one morning and sprayed hair spray under his arms instead of deodorant. On another morning, the Merriam senior put his car into drive to back out of the driveway and went through the garage wall instead.
Special to the Kansan
Schultz does not function well on five hours of sleep.
He is one of many students who are sleepless in Lawrence. Rigorous work schedules that collide with study schedules take a toll on students' lifestyles.
Alicia Rico, Spain graduate student, said she usually gets four hours of sleep each night. This makes her days run together in a blur, she said.
"I normally don't know what day I'm in," she said. "I have to think twice whether it's Tuesday or Wednesday."
Charles Boyer, Albuquerque, N.M., graduate student, often loses track of his days as well. Boyer woke up one morning and got ready to go to class. The only thing that he forgot was the day — it was Sunday.
Darren Couch, Wichita freshman, said he rarely lost track of days, but sometimes his body just refuses to move.
Couch stayed up until 4 one morning cramming for an exam. Two and a half hours later his alarm awakened him.
"I jumped up to turn off my alarm but fell over on the floor because my legs wouldn't work," Couch said. "You're in that state where you're not quite awake or asleep."
Michael Edwards, Lee's Summit, Mo.,
freshman, also stays up late to study. One day, it got him into trouble. When his teacher screamed at him to pay attention in class and not to fall asleep, Edwards yelled back. "I told him that I was too busy studying for his class to get any sleep," he said.
Sleeping at desks is another habit late-night studiers learn. Eric Regehr, Manhattan sophomore, often violently jerks out of dreams to discover he has been sleeping in class.
Regehr laughed as he recalled carrying a tray from Union Square into a bathroom because he was so tired.
Theron Chauk, Salina freshman, said he took advantage of large lecture classes to catch up on missed sleep.
"I always fall asleep and hit my head on the feet of the people behind me," he said. "You feel really stupid."
Beth Bellome, Lenexa freshman, cannot blame studying for her lack of sleep. Bellome lives in Naismith Hall where, she said, people party in the halls and stop by her room to talk about tests, money and grades at all hours of the night.
"I spend Saturday and Sunday sleeping until 2 or 3 just to catch-up," Bellone said.
Paul E. Wade, Cupertino, Calif., graduate student, said he could get more sleep if he improved his study habits. He said he often had trouble convincing himself to turn off the television and start his homework. He said he gets about six and a half hours of sleep, but needs eight. He said he usually stays awake — until his last class of the day.
"I almost always fall asleep in the last 15 minutes of my last class," he said. "The end of my notes are all gibberish."