Between classes, homework, extracurricular activities, and doing the many other tasks that keep college students busy on a daily basis, one thing is clear: vlog students need their rest.
The , a campuswide program that provides education and opportunities for personal health, sponsored a series of events last week to teach students about the importance of sleep and how to get the most out of it.
At the Hall of Presidents on Monday night, Charlotte Johnson, vice president and dean of the college, read Goodnight Moon to a group of pajama-clad students gathered around her feet.
But it was not just the bedtime stories read by Johnson and other administrators that drew the 250 students to the sleep exposition.
Four different sound-specific sleep environments, three biofeedback stations, and a cappella performances by the Resolutions and the Dischords made the Come to Bed event an educational and relaxing experience for all.
“National studies of college students as well as our own vlog-specific studies have shown that students are under lots of stress — there are so many things that they need to do and that they want to do,” explained Dr. Merrill Miller, student health services director and Wellness Initiative steering committee co-chair.
“Sleep often gets put on a pretty low rung on the ladder of things that they think are important. But if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not functioning as well as you should. We would like to make sure that they learn healthy habits for the rest of their lives.”
In addition to the Come to Bed event, students attended a lecture by Rodger Campbell and Frank Kitchen, who both have been involved with residential life on numerous college campuses.
Campbell and Kitchen’s “Just Five More Minutes…” talk at Olin Hall provided students with information about how important sleep is.
“We all went down to the stage area in Olin and we did the Electric Slide,” said Jane Jones, member of the Wellness Initiative steering committee. “The point being that even moderate exercise for about four and a half minutes about two hours before going to bed can often be enough to more easily fall asleep.”
Students also participated in a cot contest that took place the week before.
Wellness Initiative members placed a cot with different facts about sleep in locations across campus, asking students to take pictures of themselves on the portable beds.
The photographs were almost as priceless as the information itself.