Exonians Display Early Onset Exhaustion

It has only been four weeks since the start of school, yet students, both new and returning, are reporting sleep deprivation. Many attribute this exhaustion to the Saturday classes held in succession the first two weeks, resulting in only one day for students to catch up on work, and none to rest. 

Although current students shiver at the thought, weekly Saturday classes have been held at the Academy up until recently, with the 2013-2014 school year was the first to disperse three or four weekend classes throughout a term.

For new students, the 13 days of school proved an obstacle in the already difficult task of adjusting to the Exeter workload.

“There’s a culture at Exeter where we try to prove to ourselves to others, and maybe even to our parents that we can push through anything.”

“It was hard since I wanted to mingle with new fellow preps,” Cloonan explained. “The Saturday classes didn’t make it much easier.”

Many also blamed sleep deprivation for the high amount of sick students these two weeks, resulting in many empty classes and a full health center. “The exhaustion from so much work with so little break started causing people to get sick this week,” Lower Isadora Kron commented. “Getting readjusted to Exeter can be very stressful, and having two weeks with almost no breaks made it difficult to relax.”

Physics instructor Tatiana Waterman agreed, and said that she would have “rather had an extra day of school at the end of the term than that second Saturday class.”

“It always seems like students are not getting enough sleep,” health instructor Elizabeth Hurley added, whose classes consist primarily of new preps and lowers. “I already have a handful of students say that they are tired.”

Upperclassmen, especially, have noted a general decrease in sleep quality and quantity since September. Upper year is traditionally met with dread, and seniors are feeling increasing stress with impending college applications.

“I’ve definitely gotten less sleep these last few weeks than I normally had in the past two years,” said upper Maria Lee. “It’s mostly due to the fact that I have to balance club activities with an increasing homework load.”

However, some students pointed out that the concentration of Saturday classes in the beginning of the year is preferable to having them later on.

“I’d rather get them out of the way before things really get crazy,” new upper Sophie Windisch explained. “Plus, the week following had a three day weekend.” 

Many students also blame the competitive nature of Exeter for “rewarding” students who seem to be the busiest.

“There’s a culture at Exeter where we try to prove to ourselves to others, and maybe even to our parents that we can push through anything,” upper Meg Bolan said. “It’s such a competition to see who can do the most work with the hardest classes and the least amount of sleep. Yes, some people may be stay up until 3 and bust out three papers and a test the next day, but it shouldn’t be a race because it isn’t a level playing field.”

Upper Nick Song also pointed out that poor time management is what leads to the accumulation of Red Bulls in recycling bins. “It’s not impossible to get a normal amount of sleep each night if you plan ahead accordingly. We get trapped in this mindset that you’re ‘doing Exeter wrong’ if you’re not staying up until the sun rises doing homework. It’s a terrible excuse.”

Song continued. “We’re tied to extra-curriculars, yet no one made us sign up for them in the first place! Plan ahead, use your frees and learn to say no to some of the stuff Exeter offers you if you can’t manage everything at once. Exeter trusts us to utilize and manage our time well.”

However, it’s not as though Exeter hasn’t established support systems for students. “Our whole school is built for us to succeed,” Song continued.

“I haven’t heard of one teacher who hasn’t offered to meet after classes for extra help. Peer-tutoring meets almost every night. Advisors live with us in the dorm. People need the initiative to actually use these invaluable resources.”

“It’s a vicious cycle,” Johnson explained. “You do work less efficiently when tired, which slows down how fast you can do work, which steals time from your sleep, et cetera, et cetera… The advice I’d give to combat this? Use your Saturdays and Sundays well. Use the little spaces between your classes to get a small task done.”