If I survived, you can too!

As a night owl, you will not believe how much it pains me to write this article. Is it me trying to look on the bright side of what will be my reality next semester? Definitely. This is me coming to terms with the fact that the universe has cursed me with an 8:40 am class for the fall. Am I being dramatic? No, and those who have seen me awake at the break of dawn will know this is true. I am the type of person who feels the fuel and adrenaline to be productive at 2 am, and who loves her sleep. Nonetheless, I have survived an 8:40 am in the past, and it was the only time in which I attended every class. So allow me to build this case. 

8:40s force you to become a morning person, even if only temporarily. But at one point or another, especially in content-heavy classes, you will find yourself needing to go to class. For me, I felt that need every day. (I also have a bad case of FOMO even when it comes to school).

So you might have enough need for academic validation (and let’s face it we’re at Columbia, that is basically a requirement) that will have you waking up early because you have to. And trust me those days are actually amazing. It can be so easy for me to forget in the middle of the night all that morning brings, and to sleep through it. But when you have to be awake early, by the time class is over you look at the daylight outside and realize how much time there is left. 8:40s give you the gift of time. 

You also feel a great sense of productivity. It is not even noon and you have already done so much work. Who knows, maybe by the afternoon you have finished a day’s worth of work, and you are left with time for yourself. Time that you can spend freely without guilt. Because when I am not productive in the day, I tend to either feel guilty for the “unproductive” time I spend later on, or tend to rush and worry about how little time is left. 

You are also awake with civilization. It is normal to be awake at 8 am! Normal people do it every day! You get to see a side of the world every day that perhaps you are not used to. You can breathe in a sense of life that am cannot match (though it also has its perks). 

And lastly, believe it or not, the studies are right. Who would have thought?! It is a healthy lifestyle to be awake at that time. You are not racing the sun, you get to feel it and it turns out, as someone who has discovered seasonal depression through college and New York weather, that a walk in the sun almost automatically makes you feel better. And even if you wake up at 8 am only on the days you have to, this constant habit can help your circadian rhythm adjust to that lifestyle. Perhaps you will build a good habit of sleeping earlier, and waking up earlier, making you tired enough by night to rest well and do it all over again the next day. This didn’t happen to me long term…. I still have bad sleeping habits, but for those three months, they were slightly better. And it is always a possibility!

At the end of the day, 8:40s are not my cup of tea, but if I was a healthier and better person they just might be. I commend all of you who are reading this and cannot relate, and I hope to become one of you someday. Maybe these early classes will aid me in my self-care journey.

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