I currently have two AP classes and I get 6-7 hours of sleep a night. My school starts at 7:10, but to catch my bus and get ready in the morning I have to get up at 5am. I normally go to bed at 10 or 11pm. I drink coffee in the mornings and am usually pretty good throughout the day. Lately I’ve been falling asleep in class. It’s the unfightable kind, the kind where you have to get up and walk around to wake back up. I’m interested in the material, but my eyelids get heavy and there’s no going back. I usually fall asleep until I start to fall onto my desk (after a minute or so), then I wake up and my eyelids get heavy again. It usually happens during 1st hour and again around 12ish. I feel like my teachers think I’m a bad student because I fall asleep all the time. Any ideas on how to keep myself awake?
Try chewing really minty gum if you start to fall asleep or drink some cold water. That usually helps me.
It’ll require tremendous discipline and sacrifice on your part.
Give your phone to someone (a parent?) at 9:30pm. Get into your bed with a book you like. Lights off at 10pm. As a teen, you need 9 hours of sleep per night so that your brain can recharge (otherwise, it’ll start “cracking”). 10pm is the latest you should go to sleep. If you can’t fall sleep at that time, get over-the-counter melatonin.
Next year, make sure to have a more reasonable schedule. See if you could start in Period 2.
(Classes starting at 7:10 considering adolescent physiological rhythms is crazy! )
It might lead to advocacy and a great EC though 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Start_School_Later_movement
http://www.startschoollater.net/get-involved.html
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2014/03/24/later-high-school-start-times-a-challenge-for-districts
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/to-keep-teenagers-alert-schools-let-them-sleep-in/?_r=0
https://www.the74million.org/article/a-start-school-later-success-story-in-missouri-higher-graduation-rates-fewer-suspensions
@MYOS1634 9 hours of sleep a night? I know absolutely nobody who gets that much sleep.
That’s how much adolescents need to support their growth. Less than 8 hours of sleep naughty “attacks”/fragilizes their brain and affects both their physical and mental health. With 8 it’s possible to catch up (IE, sleep 10 hours in the weekend) but sleep less and the damage is real.
9 hours is actually needed for high school freshmen.
@singingwriting thanks, I’ll try that!
@MYOS1634 in order for me to get nine hours I would have to go to bed at 8:00, which is impossible with my ecs and courseload
Yes, that’s why I said to stop at 9:30 and that your school hours are insane. Did you check the links ?
You have to be asleep at 10, but 8 is indeed impossible both from a practical standpoint and from a physiological one. Even to fall asleep at 10 you’ll probably need the help of over the counter melatonin. (no secondary effects, not a sleeping pill. Teenagers ’ melatonin levels change later than adults ’ so taking melatonin at 8-9pm makes it easier to fall asleep at 10 or so by compensating for these levels.)
Are you allowed to take a day now and just sleep? You’ll feel better. Would your parents let you rest for a day if you tell them you’re feeling unwell?
What classes are you taking, what classes do you plan on taking next year, and what universities are you aiming for ?
@MYOS1634 My parents would probably be fine with me taking a day off, but I’d miss too much material, and be even more overwhelmed to make everything up. I’m taking: APUSH, Honors Algebra 2, American Literature, Human Body Systems, Spanish 3, and AP Biology. Next year I’m taking AP Economics, Honors Precalculus, AP English Lit, Medical Interventions, AP Physics, and AP Chemistry.
I’m aiming for NYU, UMich, Berkeley, and UCLA
AP Physics 1 or AP Physics C?
Have you taken Physics and Chemistry before?
Unless you absolutely can’t, I’d replace AP English Lit with Honors English, and/or one of the two science AP’s with their Honors version.
One day off can’t possibly be “too much material”, and since your body will be recovered, it’ll function much better.
Are you instate for UC’s? Or UMichigan?
(what’s your state of residency)?
Do you know your EFC and how much your parents can afford/are willing to pay for your college?
Why NYU? (It’s well-known for its stingy financial aid so unless you have a college fund with 200K in it, don’t focus on it too much); if it’s to live in NYC, Fordham is a great choice (with two sites: one with a campus, a quad, etc, in a quiet area of NYC but 30mn from Manhattan; the other, Lincoln Center, is right in the middle of Manhattan but doesn’t have a campus per se.)
What do you like about them? Are you interested in a specific major?
These colleges (and other colleges with that level of selectivity) will expect 4-6 APs total, and a total of 2-24 classes (or so) either Honors or AP (in other words, 14-20 honors classes + 4-6APs).
Are you eating breakfast? Try eating a light breakfast when you wake up and then again a little something before class.
And an apple, fresh orange, or banana at around 9:30-10.
Also if your iron levels are low this can make you very tired.