college

Get Your Sleep!

Jonathan Golding Uncategorized , ,

During my 27 years of teaching, I’ve often looked around my large class (400-500 students) and seen a student sleeping. I’d prefer that they were awake, but I still have some sympathy; college demands a lot of work, which can lead to staying up late reading and studying. As if this wasn’t enough, some students work outside jobs, are athletes, or participate in other activities like music. At college, sleep is in short supply.


This means that it’s important for you to get enough of it. On average, college students need to get about 8 hours of sleep a night, but the research shows that undergrads sleep 1-2 hours less than that. Staying up late on school nights and sleeping late on weekends messes with students’ internal clocks and makes the little sleep they get even less restful.

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According to the National Sleep Foundation, lack of sleep leads to poor health. Less sleep can:
1) Increase stress
2) Contribute to acne and other skin problems
3) Lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior, like being impatient or angry
4) Cause you to gain weight because of unhealthy eating habits
5) Heighten the effects of alcohol and possibly increase your use of caffeine and nicotine
6) Weaken your immune system and therefore contribute to illness

Lack of sleep can also hurt your performance in the classroom. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll have a tougher time paying attention, which will make it harder to study and learn material for exams. On top of this, lack of sleep will make taking the exams themselves harder—if you’re even able to get there on time. Too many students have come to my office, out of breath, saying that they were up all night studying, fell asleep, and failed to get up in time to take an exam.

If you want to have fun in college and also succeed in class, get enough sleep. Don’t avoid sleep by using caffeine and nicotine. These are stimulants, which means that they might help you stay awake in the short term, but don’t make you any more rested. Also, alcohol might help you fall asleep quickly, but your sleep will be disrupted during the night. Finally, manage your time as well as you can, so that you won’t even feel like you need to stay up all night.

By getting enough sleep you’ll feel better in both body and mind, continue to enjoy college life, and get good grades in your classes.

Special Guest Writer–Dr. Diane Snow: Combine and Conquer – Using Peer Groups to Achieve

Jonathan Golding Starting College, What to do, Working with Others ,

This past Spring, I had the great fortune of traveling to China with numerous UK faculty colleagues. There were so many interesting, yet unfamiliar and daunting experiences.

I was awed and amazed by the Great Wall, and imagined what life must have been like when people roamed the endless steps and towers through their normal daily lives. There were places where the slope of the steps was negligible and climbing was easy. I barely had to pay attention to where or how I was walking, and discourse with others was relaxed. However, there were places where the steps were not adequately deep, forcing me to climb with only my toes to progress. In some cases, the rise of step after step was enormous, and I had to use of all four limbs and a lot of attention to the task to make the trek—truly demanding work.

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It occurs to me now these steps could be seen as a metaphor for the transition from high school to college—an unpredictable and variable journey. Having been a “big fish in a small pond” in my high school, I found the workload unremarkable, and my effort was commensurate. Getting an A in each class did not make me winded. But all of a sudden, there appeared in college a much steeper climb. Courses no longer required just the reading of a chapter by the end of the week, but the reading of a book and a reflective paper in that same span. There was no longer an emphasis on introduction, but a focus on depth, breadth and integration.

While I found this challenge exhilarating, and stepped up my game, this new world view was daunting and presented a paradigm shift. Although early college days are long in my rearview mirror, I still remember the way I coped with this trial of increased volume and demand—networking and team-building. I intentionally reached out and met new people, studied with them, and learned with them. We tested the new waters as a team. We divided up the work, talked about each of our contributions, learned from one another, and solved problems together. We helped each other during triumphs and “face plants” as well, and somehow, we all made it—together. The task felt more manageable when others were facing the same challenges, had the same vision, and agreed to work through it step by step in a unified effort. Likewise, the accomplishments, when they came, were a shared victory and an award that made us stronger and more capable for the next challenge.

So as you’re climbing your Great Wall, don’t feel you need to be a weathered and independent traveler just yet. After all, in a tourist spot like that, there are thousands of friendships just waiting to be made, and so many worthy journeys to take!

Special Guest Writer-Casey Magyarics (graduate student): Writing an Email to Your Instructor

Jonathan Golding Working with Your Instructor , ,

Writing an email might sound like an easy thing to do, especially since we all spend so much time writing text messages, but writing an email to a professor or TA is very different from writing a text message. When you’re writing an email to a professor, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

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1. State your name and what class you’re taking. Your professors likely teach more than one course and they can’t keep track of everyone. If you tell your professors who you are and what class you’re taking with them, you’ll probably get a much better response.

2. Clearly explain your issue or question. Don’t just say that you need help with an assignment, be specific about the question you have. Make sure you have looked at the syllabus or assignment guidelines clearly before asking your professor or TA for help.

3. Be respectful! This is very simple, but it can really help you out. Everyone is busy, so if you are appreciative of your instructor’s time, they are probably going to be more willing to answer take care of your concern/question thoroughly.

4. Use professional language and grammar. This is where writing an email to a professor and text messaging are very different. You will want to use proper grammar and sentence structure. Don’t use things like jk, lol, !!!???, or emojis.

5. Don’t act like your instructor owes you anything. Your instructor may not be willing to provide students with their presentations or notes, so it’s important that you not act like you’re entitled to these privileges. Same thing goes for extensions on assignments, etc.

These 5 pieces of advice can really help you create a positive relationship with your instructor through email. Remember that you might need to contact these people when it comes to bumping your grade up from a B to an A at the end of the semester or when you need a recommendation letter for a scholarship or grad school. Plus, it’s always nice to treat your instructors with the same respect that you expect from them.