This is college. Who wakes up early?
Brittany Haverland, sophomore in pre-nursing, does. She said it gives her more time to complete her schoolwork.
Dr. Fred Kam at AU Medical Clinic said waking up early allows people to be more productive throughout the day.
"We as humans have a certain rhythm, so there's things, physiological things, that happen within our body and brains that gets us up and gets us going," Kam said. "So we're just following the pattern of our physiological behavior."
Haverland wakes up early to attend her 8 a.m. classes, which she also has all next semester.
"I would rather get up in the morning because I get more accomplished," Haverland said. "I get up three days a week at 6:15 a.m. to go to class. I would rather get it over during the morning so I can have more to do during the day. I usually go to sleep at 11:30 p.m."
Just like exercising, getting used to waking up early in the morning does take time and effort, Kam said.
"I'm not sure there is an easy adjustment," Kam said. "Just like if you haven't exercised for a long time, it's going to take discipline and determination and persistence. You can almost reset your internal clock so it can be a habit."
Kam said waking up at a certain time is a learned habit of the subconscious mind. He said if someone has a job, then he or she will start getting up at the same time every day by the second week.
Kam said he thinks waking up early will reduce stress, especially with students, because it would give them more hours in the day to be active and more productive.
Sleeping too long can also be a hindrance to the body. According to a recent CNN.com article, too much sleep can leave one just as tired and sluggish.
The article also said oversleeping could mean that person has an unnoticed health problem, and not getting enough sleep could lead to a higher mortality rate.
Sleep is the body's way of restoring itself. Kam suggested that students need to study and then sleep because they'll be able to process the information they have learned.
Kam said not sleeping will make a person more fatigued and will affect his or her mood, reflexes and level of attentiveness.
"I usually wake up late," said Michael DeArmond, sophomore in history and political science. "It's just a struggle to get out of bed. I'm just so tired when I wake up that I feel I need to go back to bed."
DeArmond said he sleeps five to six hours on weekdays and more than nine hours on the weekends, and he said he always feels sluggish.
Kam used the military as an example of waking up early as a learned behavior.
He said when new recruits go through basic training, they have to adhere to the same wake-up time in the early mornings.
After a while, everyone begins to automatically wake-up at the same time, even the ones who aren't "morning people."
"When the military recruits all these recruits all over the country, in basic training they have to get up at a certain time in the morning," Kam said. "Within a few weeks, they all become 'morning people.' So if you're disciplined and persistent, you can learn this. If you're lazy, you can undo it."
The amount of sleep necessary to function varies from person to person.
"Sleep affects your ability to optimally function," Kam said. "When you sleep too much or too little you may not be at your capability to function well."
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