Waking up early and being a college student for some are two words that should never go together.
Though many feel that waking up early has its benefits, there are some who see it as a negative. So one has to ask which is better, morning classes or night classes?
Some may say that there is less motivation to attend both classes. Who really wants to get up at eight in the morning to go to class? But then again, after the wear and tear of the day who wants to attend a three hour night class either?
Both sides may have a valid point however Baldwin Ihenacho, a senior criminal justice student from Boston thinks morning classes has the edge.
“Your brain kind of shuts down as the day goes on,” Inhenacho said. “When evening classes come around I personally think you find yourself trying to debate if you really want to go to the class or just stay at home.”
For some, morning classes can be a pain. Getting up every day and reaching for your alarm clock out of bed might become a habit. Eventually, you might get into a habit of subconsciously turning off your alarm clock and could possibly become late for that early morning class.
In other cases, students may have a full or part time job to worry about. This could possibly build stress and school work which could cause sleep deprivation.
According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, only 30 percent of students sleep at least eight hours at night, whereas 68 percent of students are up at night due to stress and school work.
So how does a typical student go about getting up on time for a morning class?
“Going to bed early is the key,” said Ira Dangleben, a senior English student from Miami. “If you want to wake up early go to bed early. But with homework and everything I just can’t go to bed before ten o’clock.”
Some students prefer afternoon classes and try to avoid the whole idea of waking up early and turning off their alarm clocks.
“Late classes are exhausting but early morning classes I don’t pay attention to much,” said Alcon Edwards, a sophomore political science major from New York. “I guess it’s better for me to go to late night classes because I’m usually up.”
Students are not only the ones that notice they have difficulty with these classes. Teachers see a difference in students attitudes as well.
“My experience has been that early morning classes are difficult for students to unwind,” said Kwasi Densu, a political science professor. “People aren’t as interested and aren’t as engaged. However, it really depends on the quality of the student. I see people being most productive around ten in the morning to five in the evening.”