It’s 2 p.m. and I wake up. I feel disoriented and spend a few seconds looking around my room and coming to terms with the fact that outside my window, it’s totally the middle of the day. I’m wearing a hoodie and jeans and it looks like I forgot to take off my shoes, too — but it’s cool.
This is what college is about. It’s not about partying, it’s not about enjoying newfound freedom, it’s not about becoming a functioning adult and it’s definitely not about any kind of education. It’s about napping, excessively.
The closest I got to napping in high school was my senior physics class. My teacher was interesting enough, but it was ridiculous of her to expect me to stay awake through her constant videos. I rebelliously informed her of this by sitting in the front of the class and immediately falling asleep. After school, I simply had too much stuff to do to find time to nap.
Then I made it to college and it’s all I do.
“My, my,” you might say, “so you’re paying thousands of dollars a year to sleep in bed?”
Yes and no, hypothetical critic. You see, I refuse to rest on my napping laurels. I keep the spark alive in my relationship with napping through variety. I nap in my bed. I nap in my roommate’s bed when he’s not around. I nap outside. I nap in this hammock my friends have. I nap on couches in buildings where I don’t have classes.
I nap with a variety of motivations as well. Sure, occasionally because I’m tired, but that rarely fixes my problem. I usually go from really freaking tired to being really tired.
I nap because I’m sick. I sometimes nap when I’m bored, if I’m feeling extra depressed. Most of the time I nap because there are more important things to be doing. I work best when I’m short on time.
There are negative side effects to excessive napping, make no mistake. Do not overestimate your ability to nap for short periods of time, for naps are wild creatures. We sometimes trick ourselves into believing they are our friends, that they can be tamed.
They cannot.
It’s 12:15 p.m. right now. I can nap for a bit and wake up to meet my friend at our agreed upon 12:45 p.m. lunch time, right?
I cannot.
Several things can and will go wrong. Situations like this are destined for failure. The snooze button will betray you, and it’s way easier than you think to forget to double check whether you set that alarm for the a.m. or the p.m. Your mistakes will become painfully clear when you wake up hours after that class with the really lame attendance policy.
These drawbacks should not discourage you. Napping is beautiful if you just understand your limits.
As children we were introduced to the art of napping in kindergarten, and then next 12 years were spent preventing us from practicing it. Don’t be a victim. Overcome this and rediscover napping.
Nap hard. Nap often.
— Conor O’Brien, University College freshman
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chas036 1 year, 1 month ago
Great article, brings back great memories of some good naps I had when I was at OU. Poly Sci and Ecomonics classes make for great nap times.
Of course , I can't forget the many saturday nights I spent napping on a couch in the 2nd floor lounge at Worchester House in Wilson Center waiting for my room mate to finish his "study date" with his girlfriend.
Oh and I can't foget my most favorite naps which took place on the south oval. There isn't a better nap than the south oval in the early spring with the warmth of the sun on your face and scent of the newly blossomed flowers filling the air, and closing your eyes and dozing off to the sounds of the hari-chrisnas ringing their bells. Those were the days and naps to remenber.
oatmole 1 year, 1 month ago
ha, napping is an indispensable part of graduate life for me! as a Chinese student, I've always studied hard all the way through middle school and high school. There's ALWAYS enough homework to keep you stay up as late as you would like to and even when I was extremely tired, I didn't dare to take a nap, fearing that I'd miss important materials. THis changed, however, when I went to college in China,where study is no longer a priority as it was in middle school and high school. Once the intense pressure was relieved, I learned to nap in classes that I'm not interested in~at first, I felt a bit guilty as napping in class is never what a good student should do; nonetheless, I have to admit I actually enjoyed it and had fun doing what I never dared to do before! Now in graduate school, I can't really afford to go back home during the day and like most Chinese, I have the habit of taking a nap during noon. So I learned to nap in couches in various places~it helped me relax and rest. And just like the article said, never underestimate your ability to nap. I thought I could nap for more than one hour, but I did...he~How about set a Napping Day on campus each semester?^_^
commentah 1 year, 1 month ago
This is one of the greatest articles ever written.
oatmole 1 year, 1 month ago
I posted a long comment earlier and don't understand why it's not approved...I just said that as a Chinese student, we had way too much homework to do all the way through middle school and high school, so staying up late to study is not unusual. Even I felt extremely tired during the day, I didn't dare to sleep a wink in class because I was worried I would miss important materials for exams. However, this changed since I went to college, when the intense pressure was suddenly relieved. I gradually learned to nap in some boring classes. Although I felt guilty at first since this is not what a good student is supposed to do but I soon learned to enjoy napping~now in graduate school, I don't have much time to communte during the day from school to campus so I developed the habit of napping in couches, on a desk...and it helped me rest and relax! Like the author said, you can never underestimate your napping potential. I never thought I could nap for over an hour until it did happen~well, it could be interesting if we had a napping day each semester!
ohyou9033 1 year, 1 month ago
It sounds nice to be able to leisurely nap, since college is an experience of leisure. What about the kids who work 20-30 hrs a week in between classes? You represent an unfortunate demographic--a college kid with too much time ontheir hands. I'd trade places with you any day.