For The Sleep Deprived Teenager

Imagine a student—let’s call him Scotty. Scotty is a sophomore in high school and takes two AP classes: AP European History and AP Chemistry. It’s 2AM, and our poor friend is still working on his daily AP Euro homework, which can take up to two hours. After he finishes, he goes to sleep.

AP students don’t get too much sleep.

Sleep takes up—or should take up—about one third of our daily lives

It’s when our body takes time to relax and our brain takes time to process the day. So if we don’t sleep well, our days tend not to be great as they could be. So here are some tips for better sleep.

1. Have a sleep schedule

Even on weekends, holidays and days off, try to wake up and fall asleep around the same time. This reinforces regularity in your body’s circadian rhythm, which is also known as it’s biological clock. A regular circadian rhythm helps to promote better sleep

2. Pay attention to what you consume a few hours before sleeping

Don’t go to bed either hungry or stuffed. The discomfort from this keeps us up. In addition to that, avoid nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, or other similar substances. Nicotine and caffeine are stimulants can keep you up. Alcohol can help you fall asleep, but it does so in a manner that disrupts the sleep cycle.

3. Create a bedtime ritual

Do the same things each night. Doing so kind of tells your body that it’s bedtime. Relaxing activities especially can promote sleep. Some examples include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to some soothing music. However, be wary of the TV or other electronic devices. There has been some research that concludes that the light from these devices can interfere with our sleep

4. Get comfortable

A cool, dark, and quiet environment is the best environment to fall asleep in. You can achieve this by installing shades, wearing a face mask, wearing earplugs, and not stacking up on the sheets. In addition to that, have a suitable mattress and pillow. You should be shopping for a mattress and pillow like how you shop for a pair of comfortable shoes. You spend a large fraction of your life in shoes. You also spend a large fraction of your life on a mattress and pillow. So make sure to invest.

5. Try to limit your daytime naps

Long daytime naps can interfere with nighttime sleep. However, if you must nap, limit yourself to about 10 to 30 minutes per day, and try to make it during the midafternoon.

6. Include physical activity in your daily routine

In addition to the plethora of other health benefits it provides, a good amount of exercise promotes good sleep, helping you to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep. Timing is important, however. Exercising too close to bedtime can leave you too energized to fall asleep.

7. Manage the stress

If there’s so much on your mind, and so much to think about, your sleep won’t too great. It may help to write down what’s on your mind or just a quick agenda and then set it aside for the following day.

When it comes down to it, sleep is one of the most vital parts of our lives. So let’s make sure we make the most of it

Howard

Problematic Patriotism

Our glorious United States of America: The strongest military power in the world, the space pioneer, the developer of the nuclear bomb, the land of opportunity, the land of low voter turnout.

The United States has an embarassingly low voter turnout. As one can see from the graph, It ranks below Belgium, a country known more for it’s chocolates than it is for its politics.

The root of this problem stems from the United States’ lack of patriotism—everywhere we go, we hear people complaining about their dissatisfaction with our government, whether they’re a part of the Democrat, Republican, or Tea Party. From this, one can conclude that we can solve our problem with voting by solving our problem with patiotism.

Of the many countries to have existed, Nazi Germany presents one of the finest examples of patriotism in history. If the United States follows suit with this former empire, we will have as much patriotism as it had.

Think of it. Thousands of American citizens with their hands over their hearts, saluting with pride to their nation. In order to do this, one must start imbuing nationalistic ideas starting at youth. The Nazis knew this. Hence, the Hitler youth.

The Hitler Youth is exactly what it sounds like. It was similar to programs such as the Boy and Girl Scouts of America, except with a far greater emphasis placed on the country. In addition to the skills one learns as a scout, all of the children are given talks and taught curriculum to incease their nationalism. The male and female branches differed in that the male branch sought to have boys ready for military training by adulthood and the female branch sought to prepare women for motherhood. All in all, however, the Hitler Youth programs helped to make the citizens of Nazi Germany as nationalistic as they were, and a similar program could do the same for our seemingly jeopardized country.

Howard

Release

With the end of every finals season comes happiness. That happiness is usually stemmed in the fact that a student will have a fresh start or “clean slate” at the beginning of the new semester. But this time around, at the end of the seventh semester of my high school career, there’s another aspect contributing to that usual bout of happiness. And that aspect is closure. With the end of the seventh semester of my high school career comes the end of the three-school-year-and-a-semester struggle of “making the grade.”

Of course, I’ll have to maintain decent grades. But the 8th semester involves much less of a concern to do so. And although it currently seems like I’m saying I no longer need to try, that absolutely isn’t the case. What this means is that I can focus on the learning aspect instead of the grade aspect.

Although it’s a three day, stress free hiatus. I’m honestly rather excited for this weekend to pass.

Howard

“To Be” Is Sort Of Not An Option

“To be, or not to be? That is the question”

Many know that this is the scene where Prince Hamlet contemplates suicide. In one of the most widely known asides in the history of English Literature, our friend Hamlet talks about a permanent sleep would end all the troubles that life comes with—”the heartache and the thousand natural shocks.”

There’s one issue with these famous lines, however. Whether one chooses “to be” or “not to be,” he is never “to be” indefinitely. And there lies the the icky thing we call death.

I think it’s good that most young adults don’t quite realize their mortality. It pushes them to do things they wouldn’t do otherwise. Due to a number of deaths that have occurred around me within the past few years and the imminent death of a family member, I’m one of those unfortunate younger souls who have realized that death exists.

As a relatively non-religious person, I don’t really go anywhere after death regarding my soul. My soul will simply disappear, my consciousness will cease to exist in the minutes following my time of death. Then my poor, poor body, goes into preservation for a while, emerges, get’s it’s makeup done, attends it’s funeral, and is promptly buried six feet under. Insects will gnaw into my coffin, eventually reaching a point where they can decompose what remains of me.

For those who are religious, they have something ahead of them, whether it’s rebirth, Heaven, Nirvana, etc… But nothing really awaits an atheist following death—just worms and bacteria. So there doesn’t seem to be any solace in death—just disappointment.

I know. There are atheists out there who are content with the concept with death, and that’s because they have a purpose in life and perhaps a legacy to leave behind—two things that I lack.

Hamlet, whether religious or not, was content when he was dying. The truth had been uncovered about Claudius, and he had Horatio to tell people of his story. I’m still seeking that.

College Apps

Who knew a pair of words could traumatize one to such an extent? There are a whole bunch of scary words out there. So why are these two so high up the list for me?

from http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/

Well I guess part of it has to do with the fact that I’m a senior in high school who’s been trying to work on just that—college apps.

Although I have some knowledge of the college application process from an English research assignment a bit earlier this school year, I still have this irrational fear of it. I’ve talked to a multitude of people about how much I dread working on college applications. And to be honest, most of the feedback I get regarding the application tends to go along the lines of “it’s not too bad.” Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. More often than not, I don’t believe them. No matter how many “you’ll be fine”s I get, college apps still scare me. I do have a reason for this unreasonable fear, however.

I have an education counselor who I meet with on occasion—about once or twice a month—to talk about my academics. Prior to this summer, the talks would always concern school stuff—grades, SAT scores and the like. But since my completion of junior year and the arrival of my SAT scores, these meetings have been about my least favorite topic. College this, higher education that.

My counselor emphasizes the importance of college all the time—how I need to make an activities list using “active verbs,” how I need to write colorful essays about myself, how I need to have a nice résumé. And every meeting, she gives me some tasks to have complete by the next meeting, perhaps an activities list draft or a college essay outline. Sometimes I have them done, sometimes I don’t. When the latter occurs, I’m subject to a torrent of words which I can only understand as “this is the most important thing in your life, and you’re doing it wrong” at my meeting. Don’t get me wrong. She only wants good for me. But I just I think this is where the fear comes from.

The idea that college is “everything there is to life” has been indoctrinated in me. The ease with which I can screw up the application to “everything there is to life,” terrifies me.

Howard

UCLA

Procrastination

Let’s take a look at a little scenario from the perspective of a student:

• 3:30 PM: Alright. I’m home now. I’ll take a quick break, and start on homework.
  I’m hungry. I should make some food
• 3:35 PM: I have no idea what to eat. I’ll just Google “quick healthy snacks”
• 3:40 PM: -looks though the fridge- “Mom, do we have celery, almonds, and penut butter?”
• 4:00 PM: Okay, I have all the ingredients, time to make my food!
• 4:15 PM: That was tasty. I’m thirsty.
  Smoothie time!
• 4:30 PM: Okay, I have my drink now. I’ll just go on Facebook until I finish my smoothie.
• 5:30 PM: Wait, what? That did not feel like an hour. Okay. Time to start. But I need to write in my planner first
• 5:45 PM: That took longer than expected. Well, it’s almost time for dinner anyway. I’ll play with the dogs for a bit, take a quick shower, and play some piano
• 7:30 PM: That was some good fish. Okay, time to get to it.
  But first a few YouTube videos.
• 7:55 PM: Okay, I’ll start at 8.
• 8:03 PM: Okay, I’ll start at 8:15.
• 8:17 PM: 8:30. For sure.
• 8:30 PM: What homework to do first?… Time to consult Google.
• 8:45 PM: Did you know that starting with the easiests tasks is the most efficient way to complete your work? Oh, wait. This article says something else!
• 9:03 PM: Forget it. I’ll just start with English at 9:15. Wait, what was the homework, again? I guess I’ll call Michelle
  
• 10:30 PM: That was a rather long conversation… I’ll just brush my teeth and get started right away.
• 10:35 PM: -passes by Mom watching TV- “Wait, I didn’t know The Voice was on today!”
• 12:00 AM: Sh*t.

This is the day to day life of many high school students, especially AP (offically “Advanced Placement,” but I like to call it “Advanced Procrastination”) students.

During certain periods of time in my high school career, I would experience the above scenario every day. I recall a a time in my sophomore year, where I would start my AP European History (my first every AP class) homework at around twelve in the morning, and would not finish until about two or three o’clock. Rather recently, I had to rush to finish an English paper that was due at 11:59 because I had gotten home from a beach bonfire at 10.

Procrastination is ugly. Don’t do it.

Howard