<p>I worked 11 pm to 7 am shift for a year when I was 19 years old. I never really knew how utterly tired I was until I finally quit.</p>
<p>If there is any activity in your house at all during the time you need to sleep it will be very hard to get restful sleep.</p>
<p>It is important to keep your sleeping times the same every day of the week. It’s very hard on weekends to maintain that if you want to do things with your friends and/or family. You have to completely reset your body clock to a new normal, if that is even possible.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily discourage someone from trying it. My time on third shift was a very interesting time. However, I would not let my 17-year-old work those hours.</p>
<p>If I were the OP’s parent, as long as I felt the location were safe I’d let him or her work the overnight shift. If it ends up that the shift is too difficult, the OP could quit the job without any great loss. </p>
<p>I’ve had college students who did that while also taking classes in the daytime, and that was much harder on them than it would be on the OP, who is taking on-line classes that I’m presuming can be taken at the time of day of his choice.</p>
<p>Both my husband and I also worked overnights when we were in our 20s and early 30s. We both happen to be night owls. Given a choice between working days or overnights, I’d prefer overnights as many probably can figure out from the timing of lots of my posts here.</p>
<p>At least unlike what my husband and I had to work as journalists, you’d be working the same shift every night. My husband had to work 3 shifts a week including one in which he was due back at work 6 hours after getting off.</p>
<p>H is now 60 and I’m 58, and neither of us has any chronic health problems.</p>
<p>Thanks again everybody for your thoughts. The responses have been very interesting and helpful. @newhope33 - would you see that as a positive or a negative? @chedva - For the moment, I’m focusing more on the next 7 or 8 weeks, but I’m not exactly sure about next semester. I’m thinking about talking to my schools - both current and next year’s college - about dropping some classes, as I only need one more 1/2 credit to graduate, and I’ve already exceeded what counts in AP credit. Although I wouldn’t necessarily want to do it again, last year for the first three months of the semester I handled full-time school with more classes, almost all AP, athletics, and a 60+ hour/week job, albeit volunteer. So I think it is possible, but that was a brutal term. @nontraditional - your experiences are very interesting as well. I see how I’d need to stick to my schedule, and that could be a tricky but necessary thing. I think it’d be weird to have to stay up all night no matter what on weekends, but may be doable. And yes, pay is better for this shift specifically. @mamadrama - I have pulled far too many all-nighters for a lifetime, and even my current sleep schedule is pretty bad by traditional standards. Not that I don’t get enough, I probably get more than I need, but I go to bed really late and wake up late or get up early but take naps. I’ve slept during the day many times before, so I’m sure I could do that if necessary, but I may also have to consider what you alluded to later - sleeping in the late evening. @momlove - My house is pretty much inactive and quiet during the day with siblings at school and parents at work. Weekends they’ll be home, but are generally quiet and I can sleep alright. @northstarmom - Yes, my classwork can be done at any time, and I’ve actually found (though my parents don’t know haha) that I work best at night. I’d say my most productive time tends to be between 11 pm and 3 am. I’m definitely a night owl, but there’s a big difference between staying up late enough to kill most of the morning and late enough to kill the whole day.
Thanks all for your input</p>
<p>I worked 11:30 pm to 8 (sometimes 10) am for three months right after I graduated from college. I never remotely got used to it. I was sleep-deprived the whole time, even making a concerted effort to catch up on weekends. I was rarely able to get myself to sleep more than 3-4 hours during the day (and then only if I really disciplined myself to hit the sack immediately when my shift ended). Sometimes I was able to get a substantial nap between dinner and starting work, too. But my experience was that this would be totally incompatible with maintaining peak athletic performance capability.</p>
<p>Oddly, some people think working the graveyard shift is better than working an evening shift (3 to 11) because the evening is when your friends and family are available. People who work evenings tend to get cut off socially.</p>
<p>That said, working the graveyard shift is difficult. You would need to maintain your daytime sleep schedule 7 days a week – and it might be difficult to do that on the weekends when there is nothing to do in the middle of the night and when other people are home making noise during the day. Even on weekdays, it can be difficult to sleep in the daytime because it’s too light and because there will be phones and doorbells ringing, not to mention other family members coming and going on their more normal schedules.</p>
Most colleges require that your second semester resemble what you reported it would be on your application. I’m not sure that your college will agree.</p>
<p>The other factor to remember is that you got a “likely” letter. Please keep in mind that a “likely” letter IS NOT an acceptance. They can still say no (and threads on these boards have proven that they sometimes do) and then where will you be? I wouldn’t be so quick to write off other applications.</p>
<p>Most laws regarding age limits are for 16 and under. </p>
<p>You said the hours were consistent so once you get used to night vs. day, then you should be fine. H prefers night shifts because it’s usually quieter and there’s less hassles. The big thing is to go to bed as soon as possible in the mornings so you will be awake during the afternoon and evenings to go out with your friends.</p>
<p>Okay thanks again to all for commenting.
JHS - I agree wholeheartedlywith the last part of your statement, that’s currently becoming my chief concern. Like so many things, this may be a good opportunity, but with athletics in the picture probably isn’t a good idea.
Marian - I feel the same way about working 3-11. That seems like it would really kill all social activity, except for Saturdays. But it would maintain my sleep schedule.</p>
<p>If, by some stroke of luck, I was not accepted, then I would have to begin the whole recruiting trail again, which I agree would be rough. I’d probably wind up at one of the other 5 schools whose applications I filled out in August, so I wouldn’t need to redo those, but I would need to do a lot of time-consuming things to get myself back out there so I agree that that would throw a huge wrench into these plans.</p>
<p>Don’t do it if you have other activities in your life going on because the hours are really hard on you if you have to wake up early for whatever reason. I work nights 8-3am and I’m also athletic. I don’t know if it’s effected my body in a negative way because I’m still able to perform physically. Since I don’t attend school, I have a pretty set schedule of waking up around 11am-12pm and starting the day, getting everything I need done before I go to work. It’s good that you have consistent hours because shift changes is what takes a toll on your body.</p>