| Aug. 6, 2007 | 12:52 pm |
What your dorm room is supposed to be used for
By
Getting room assignments is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in a month. If the Class of 2011 Facebook group is any indication, it is in a lot of other people’s lives too. While a lot of us have gone to summer camp, sometimes even college summer camps, going to college for real is a big step. Here are the basics to the things you’re supposed to be doing in your dorm room: sleeping and studying.
Sleep
The National Sleep Foundation recommends eight to nine hours of it a day. Though you may not have hit that number since the age of ten, sleep is undoubtedly important. It improves concentration, energy and even reduces stress. Though the requisite partying and late-night studying takes up a lot of time, that doesn’t mean maybe a few House or Lost marathons can’t be sacrificed for a good night’s sleep.
Here are a few tips help:
Exercise, but don’t do it fewer than three hours before bed.
If you have to nap, do it for only 30 minutes and during the day. Use your cell phone alarm to help you from napping too long
Don’t consume caffeine or other stimulants after 4 p.m. Nicotine is a stimulant too; yet another reason for you to quit.
Set the mood (and not for that other use of your bed). Darkness tells your body “sleep.” Light tells it “wake up.” For when your roommate just won’t get off his or her computer at 2 a.m.: there are aids for that.
Studying
Studying: In the end, it’s why you’re in college. Good studying skills are important, and studying is just like real estate: It’s all about location, location, location. Depending on which dorm you were assigned to, you may or may not want to study in your dorm room. Sometimes that necessitates trips to the library (the main library is open until 3 a.m. Sunday through Thursday for the night owls). Few things are as enjoyable as nature; but beware, if the soccer team (or an equally scantily clad sports team) is out training on the field, the bleachers or lakefill might not be the best place to study anything other than anatomy. Collegeboard.com suggests a location with “good light, comfortable temperature and good desk space.” In the end, it’s all about limiting distractions.
And don’t cram. According to Dr. Shpungin of Kenyon College, studying is most effective when done in 45-minute blocks while consuming lots of protein.
Next Week: Roommates. How to live with someone without pulling your hair out, or resorting to vigilante nudity.
Ben R. said,
August 6, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
I have no idea what Vigilante nudity is, but it sounds entertaining at the very least.
Christine O said,
August 6, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
So I’m just curious, in the rowdier frosh dorms (ie bobb/elder/allison) how much studying to people actually do IN their dorms rooms? The library seems like a better bet.
Scott Olstad said,
August 7, 2007 @ 12:28 am
Eh, sleep is overrated. The National Sleep Foundation fails to mention that you’ll be just fine with 5 hours a night. It’s noble to try and be in bed at a reasonable time every night, but after a few months in college, 3 a.m. was “turning in early.” The best approach to sleep is to not worry about it. You don’t need as much sleep as you think you do and stressing about “getting enough” will give you only that: stress.
As far as studying, it’ll depend on the class. If you’re taking Dante’s Divine Comedy with Ruffini during your first semester, you’ll ONLY need to cram the night before the midterm and final to get an “A.”
Lisa G said,
August 7, 2007 @ 12:31 am
I lived in Allison. Studying in the room was rarely a problem, but I went to the library too. It’s just easier to avoid distractions.
Spencer K said,
August 7, 2007 @ 2:36 am
Sometimes the problem isn’t that it’s rowdy. For me, I have trouble studying in the same room where I eat/sleep/hang out/am down the hall from friends. A lot of times, you just need a change of scenery — that can mean just going out into the hall, or the lawn outside or the dining hall or whatever.