<p>My two college students are constantly telling me they are tired. Can’t wait to take a nap. Can’t wait to sleep in on the weekend. Can’t wait to sleep in on break. Can’t wait till classes are over for the day so they can take a quick snooze. Both probably stay up till midnight-one and both have 9 - 10am classes first - sounds like a good amount of sleep to me!</p>
<p>S had arranged to play tennis (he’s on his college’s team) with a teammate today - Ohio, November and it’s almost 70 degrees! Perfect for tennis!! S just texted me - the kid he was suppose to play is backing out cause, “he’s too tired to play today”. </p>
<p>I understand TIRED of work, tired of classes, tired of routine - but the physically TIRED so much? I don’t know!!! :)</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know for sure about college, but I am a senior in high school and I am exhausted all the time.
In my AP Psych class last year we learned that on average, people of high school/college age need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep every night. So if they are going to bed at midnight and getting to class at 9, they are not getting near enough sleep. And the effects just get compounded day after day. Plus dorm rooms are notorious for loud noises all through the night.
I would hazard to say that it is totally reasonable!</p>
<p>Yes. Yes we are. I had 7 hours of sleep last night, and I’m still currently fighting to stay awake. Also, a 9am class is really early. Half of the time I can’t even get up for my 10am class.</p>
<p>your son is on the tennis team, has 9-10 am classes and you wonder why he’s tired? – EDIT – sorry, the other team mate backed out, not your son. But I still don’t find that as odd: being a college athlete is hard work.</p>
<p>My son is always tired, too. He has a pretty good excuse: army ROTC PT 3 days a week at 6:00 am. So, I have to cut him a break. </p>
<p>But, you know what, I’ve come to believe that “tired” is an adolescent euphemism for bored/worried/mad/sad/etc. It’s a catch-all word they use (when talking to Mom) that means “Something’s bothering me, but I don’t want to talk about it and there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. Let me retreat into peace and quiet.”</p>
<p>I know they’re really tired. I know that and I believe it. I just think “tired” is also code for other feelings.</p>
<p>^^agree with DougBetsy…It is an expression that is really annoying. I have a friend who answers her phone after saying hello with “I am so tired” I think some people just use this as an expression. How tired could someone be if they have slept 8 hours?</p>
<p>When I say I’m tired, I usually just mean that I’m mentally tired… Just sick of thinking about all the things I have to do, etc. It is not always a physical thing because I usually get about 6ish hours of sleep a night during the week, and I can survive on that. I will say that I was mentally AND physically exhausted every day in high school! That was a brutal schedule.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ll agree that “tired” is an overused word. I just don’t remember being so “tired” in my college days!</p>
<p>He does play tennis, but it is off-season so at this point, the only requirements they have is to try and work out 3 times a week. S has played year round sports all through high school so he’s pretty used to that. So right now, sports isn’t really contributing to his “tiredness”. :)</p>
<p>I guess it’s true that when I hear “tired” I think more sleep - so it would probably help me if they would just expand their vocabulary a little bit!</p>
<p>I use “tired” A LOT in the physical sense of the word for sure. I’m on the varsity swim team, and balancing that with a full class/workload, a part time job, student government, Greek life, and social activities adds up. When I had meal plan I would always use it to get iced coffee drinks at the on-campus coffeshop, and now I stock up on pepsi max and mountain dew to get me through the day. If I don’t have those (or 7+ hours of sleep), I can’t focus enough to get anything done.</p>
<p>In high school, I would average 6-7 hours of sleep a night (sometimes less) so I literally slept every day at school. Fortunately there were classes that I could, or else I wouldn’t have made it through my nightly 3 hour practices or club meetings.</p>
<p>Do you know how many hours of sleep your kids actually do get? I know that in her first two years of college, my older daughter was regularly up til 2 or later. Younger daughter just told us a couple of weeks ago she figured out she just needs more sleep; she’d been trying to run on 3-4 hours a night. </p>
<p>I think it’s also stress/pressure. My kids’ experience in HS was nothing like mine, in terms of the hours spent on homework every night coupled with tons of ECs. They ran early morning til late, late at night. I suspect their college experience is rather different from mine too. At least erhswimming’s description makes me tired just reading it.</p>
<p>All that busyness, long days, pressure to perform, late nights add up to fatigue/tiredness, even if they are getting a “decent” amount of sleep. Maybe they could broaden their vocabulary, but I believe my D when she says she’s tired. And glad she’s figured out “sleep helps!”</p>
<p>My son is very tired and it is physical rather than merely mental. He may be a bit of a special case because he had sleep apnea (surgery mostly fixed) but still has some sleep disorders and as a severely dyslexic kid, reading and writing make him physically tired. He regularly reports that he is quite tired, and it is not just a mental state. He knows that he has to work harder than other kids to do well. He’s quite ambitious. He finished his freshman year with very high grades and a prize for academic performance. This semester, his 3rd, he’s got a harder batch of courses and is working very hard. He told me he stayed up 66 hours straight in one stretch (not a great idea) to study for two tests in hard subjects, but it is hard not to feel tired thereafter. I think lots of his peers are also pulling all-nighters. After they do, they’ll actually be tired.</p>
<p>I have had six exams and seven papers in the last three weeks, on top of regular homework for five classes, being president of one club and practically running another. I am very tired. Part of it is that that is just a lot of work, but part of it is that it would not be possible to get all of that work finished without staying up much later than is appropriate for my morning schedule. However, it’s nowhere near as bad as last year. Last year I only slept an hour or two a night during the week, 5-6 hours a night on the weekend. Now that my health is completely shot to hell from doing that, I make it a point to limit my commitments a bit more.</p>
<p>My parents are completely clueless about how exhausting my schedule is and they make it into an argument whenever they speak to me. They cannot comprehend why it would be problematic for me to take entire weekends off on a whim and refuse to accept that I have still have extensive academic responsibilities after classes end for the day-- or <em>gasp</em> even on the weekend. The joys of being a first-gen college student.</p>
<p>Interesting…maybe they’re mentally exhausted, are taking in too much caffeine, or have a vitamin deficiency? My D mentioned that her roommates are constantly tired too although she gets up earlier than they do and they all go to bed by 11 during the week. She says that one works too many hours a week, but won’t cut back, and is pretty stressed out about school. The other seems to favor more starchy stuff/sugar foods and doesn’t like veggies, but is not feeling as much stress. Neither takes vitamins or get a lot of exercise, other than walking, although they appear to be in good shape. </p>
<p>My kid has a full, fairly tough, courseload and works 10 hours a week, but takes a good multi-vitamin daily, has a decent diet with very little caffeine or junk food and says she feels fine…“sleeping in” means 10 am on weekends and she’s up at 6 on weekdays. When she’s really stressed, she likes to take a short nap before dinner but having a daily schedule with everything on it - even scheduling naps/breaks - seems to help manage the mental exhaustion. She recommended the daily vitamin to her friends, but apparently they don’t “believe in them”…yet can’t understand why they’re getting sick all the time and D isn’t! Of course, we don’t really know if it’s the vitamin, genetics, diet/lifestyle, or a combination of all three…she won’t stop taking her vitamin long enough to find out for fear of getting sick or tired!</p>
<p>Ema–many of my students are like you. They are mostly first gen. They are expected to work many more hours than is good for a college student’s education, sometimes 30-40 hours a week. They pay for their transportation (car insurance or bus pass), phones, clothes, and any part of their bill not covered by FA. They (and their parents) feel it is their own responsibility because they’re 18. Sometimes they contribute to utilities, etc at home. Often they’re expected to do extensive house chores, babysit younger sibs, take older relatives to dr. appointments, etc.</p>
<p>Then, they try to have a typical college student experience–clubs, sororities, making friends.</p>
<p>And then, of course, there’s schoolwork. Like you say, families don’t understand (and often my students don’t either) why there should be so much school work to do at home.</p>
<p>I’ve been having midterm/pre-advising appointments all week, and that’s all I hear–they are just so, so tired. Because as far as I can tell, they don’t sleep.</p>
<p>They don’t get enough sleep. There is a reason on weekends (when they don’t have to be up for sports, SATs, ACTs, etc., ) they sleep until 2. My son (Sr. in hs) has to be up at 6 to be at school by 7 (he has to drive 15 miles through downtown traffic to get to his school) isn’t done until 5 - then back home through rush hour traffic, then homework, apps, and they need some down time, too, so an hour or so just chilling out and it’s midnight before he gets to sleep.</p>
<p>D1 has her regular job on campus, another job as head TA for a course, dance and sorority. Her plate is very full, but she likes to take few hours nap in the afternoon. I have only heard her complaining about being tired after studying for an exam or paper. But this summer after her finance internship, she was exhausted. While she visited with us for a week, she slept 14 hours everyday. She thought work was much harder than school. She was mentally on every minute while at work, there was no down time to hang out with friends for half an hour.</p>
<p>Ok, I’m a non-traditional student, and I’m almost 60. I attended university years ago. I’m now attending full-time to complete a degree. I can attest that students generally works very hard and attend classes where they are expected to absorb and retain information. Next they are expected to put that information into a cogent form to demonstrate what they have learned. </p>
<p>I just completed three classes today, one, two, three. I have taken a nap as soon as possible afterward. Brainwork is exhausting work. I’m convinced that there is rest needed, but also physical workouts are needed to keep a proper mental and physical fitness. </p>
<p>Bravo to the students with disabilities, they must work very hard to accomplish great things, grades, academic awards, etc. (I’m completing a degree, due to undiagnosed disabilities from years ago) Also, I have kids my fellow students’ age. Trust me if they are tired it is generally because they are working very hard. </p>
<p>My mom is 83 and she wonders why I can’t come to visit entire weekends. I understand what the kids are saying, they have to get their schoolwork completed. Parents should be proud of their students for taking such a responsible path!</p>
<p>In college, I was happy to get 4-5 hours sleep. I became really good at naps. I could sleep standing up. You don’t realize how much you take for granted being able to sleep when you feel like it. Your parents’ home is usually pretty quiet after 10 pm. Not so with a dorm. I plan on telling S that if he’s rooming with a kid who’s pre-med, or an athlete, his room will be empty and quiet in the afternoon when they’re at labs or practice – good time to catch some Zs. </p>
<p>I remember getting a job in the computer lab from 2 am -8 am. I sought out the padded Wang computer manuals (this was way before the internet) and rested my head on them for a few hours.</p>
<p>^At one point, I had a rule that if I were still up at 5 am, I wouldn’t bother going to bed because it was too hard to get up at 6:30 and commute to school. For a time I probably pulled at least one all-nighter a week.</p>