At 3:20 a.m., I pushed open the front doors of Clemons Library and stepped out into the surprisingly warm night air. Just a few moments prior, I had jolted awake from an unintentional nap that told me that I was too exhausted to continue working effectively. As I walked to the library exit, there was still a considerable amount of students tirelessly studying. The fourth floor of Clem (“Clem 4”) was still alive with chatter at an hour when most of the world should be asleep. In my headphones, Still Sleepless by Carla Monroe and D.O.D. was playing, its lively house beat an ironic contrast to the dim, almost sacred hush of the library. It is one of my most-played songs during library sessions, and I have always found it amusing how something so vibrant and made for late nights out became a common study song.
This is not the first time that my library departure has been well past midnight, and it certainly will not be the last. To be clear: this is not an article to complain about late nights. Like every other college student ever, I have gotten used to embracing them. Everybody knows that anything less than 7 hours of sleep is not optimal–and yet, this recommendation, made by just about every medical professional (or parent), goes largely unheard or ignored. In fact, stop any college student walking around Grounds and ask what time they went to sleep the night before–the answer is more likely to be past midnight than not.
Why is this the case? What is it about college that suddenly turns everyone into a night owl? It seems that it is far more common to find students who are well accustomed to late nights as opposed to students who get work done early in the morning. While there certainly are students who are up-and-at-’em before the sun is shining, it is easy to forget that most people go to sleep at reasonable times. There are certainly a number of factors that contribute to this shared habit, such as high level coursework, conflicting extracurricular activities, time management issues, and active social lives. In college, the absence of nagging parents that might otherwise remind them of going to bed earlier or getting home earlier gives students more freedom than they might be used to. Thus, it is far easier to create a new schedule in college that is geared more to fit in a busy nighttime.
In elementary school, I used to panic at the thought of not falling asleep before 10 p.m., always determined to achieve a strict bedtime and get a “proper” amount of sleep. As my parents and teachers vehemently espoused, I wholeheartedly believed that a full night’s sleep was integral to my overall well-being – which it is. This mindset began to switch after what I considered to be a rebellious (in hindsight, not really rebellious at all) sleepover with my friends when we stayed up until 4 a.m. Despite this small act of rebellion against my normal bedtime routine, I maintained a pretty healthy sleep schedule up until high school.
As academic pressures and extracurricular involvements ramped up after ninth grade, having little to no sleep was a common phenomenon throughout high school. Students complained about their two-hour snoozes, or even their ambitious all-nighters. At a certain point, these lamentations about the severe lack of sleep became a contest that went hand-in-hand with increasing academic competition. For some, achieving the least amount of sleep became an accomplishment as an indicator of how hard that student was working. While some may argue that this habit fosters a toxic culture that encourages unhealthy habits, managing a packed schedule necessitates sacrifices that typically come in the form of lost sleep. With the difficulty of balancing after school sports and challenging AP courses, late nights were not unheard of in high school.
Entering UVA, this sleepless sentiment remains the same as before. Many homework deadlines are at 11:59 p.m., but this does not stop college students from working late into the night. Most are not alone – it is not difficult to find a few friends staying awake to watch missed lectures, review material, or otherwise provide companionship and conversation as a study break. Each time I go to the library, I spot a familiar face and end up being sidetracked into conversation. Somewhere along the way, these late hours have become less of an exception and more of a routine rhythm. It is funny how your body can adapt to staying up late and how productive those hours can be.
Although some assignments are submitted and done by midnight, students remain at the library after this deadline studying for other classes or playing catch-up. Factor in the fact that UVA is an academically rigorous school, and the intensity of library-goers makes all the more sense. During midterms and finals season, coveted spots become areas of competition over who can claim them first. While empty study rooms are hard to come by on a regular day, exams make them all the more valuable. Some students opt for unconventional spots outside of the libraries, but Shannon and Clemons still remain, by far, the most popular places to check tasks off of the Canvas “to-do” tab.
When I left Clem for home at 3 a.m., I had been there since midnight with a close friend; we migrated to Clemons after Shannon closed for the night and kicked us out of the spacious study room we had scored. It was almost absurd, leaving one library to go to the next. Clem 4 proved to be just about as alive as it would be during the afternoon, the quiet hum of computers and papers rustling broken up by talking and laughter. Groups were huddled around laptops, snacks were scattered across tables, and Celsius cans decorated surfaces. Despite the hour, the determination of these students to keep working was admirable.
I know this haphazard sleep schedule is far from being sustainable forever. Eventually, I will have to go to sleep earlier, study at more regular hours, and let go of these late night habits. But for now, being still sleepless feels like a rite of passage—a chaotic and exhausting aspect of the quintessential college experience.
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