Sleep & Exeter: 6 Exonians Track Their Sleep Schedules

The Exonian interviewed four students across the span of week to provide an overview of how different students manage their time. The three days highlighted cover what the interviewees deemed a typical day, a bad day and a good day.

Curling his right leg into a semicircle and stretching his left leg straight, prep Henry Yao turned over to the left side of his blue pillow. He stared out at the 3:00 a.m. sky and grabbed his dimmed phone from his wooden bedside table. 

Originally from Sunnyvale, California, Yao is a passionate STEM student, fervent pianist and Ewald boarder currently in quarantine. On a typical day, Yao sets three alarms—7:00, 7:05 and 7:10 a.m.—before he dozes off to sleep at 3:05 a.m. each day. 

Having woken up at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, Yao begins his day with a fresh breakfast and prepares for his class from 7:00-8:00 a.m. “As long as I get above a certain threshold of sleep— around four hours—then I’m fine,” Yao said.

In the morning, Yao attended his classes virtually and took a lunch break at 12:00 p.m. at his hotel cafe. After, he headed back to his room for his last class of the day. Yao took a break at 2:00 p.m. to watch a few Ted-Ed and science videos on Youtube. After an hour of relaxation, Yao began his homework. 

“Academics-wise, I try to prioritize school work over other club or extracurricular activities. I finish school work first. It doesn’t take that long or affect [my rest] that much. But if there’s an essay, or a lab, I might lose some sleep.”

Yao spent two hours on homework and finished his regular school workload by 4:00 p.m., and took a shower at 5:00 p.m. Right after, he bought dinner from the local restaurant around 6:00 p.m. While eating dinner, he began editing his summer application essays drafts. This marked the beginning of Yao’s extracurricular time, which occupies most of his days. 

“Academic extracurriculars affect my sleep time because they’re what I like to do. I love math, coding, Science Olympiad, science research, physics, playing the piano and history bee,” Yao said. 

Yao began his Science Olympiad contest preparation at 8:00 p.m., one day before his final competition, working on the circuit lab and machines tests.

By 10:00 p.m., Yao started coding for an hour, something he does daily. By 11:00 p.m.. Yao took another hour-long break to watch some TED Talks he had saved. Yao resumed his coding exercises at 12:00 a.m. before he headed to sleep at 3:00 a.m.

After waking up at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Yao skipped his breakfast to participate in the Science Olympiad “Machines Test.” He finished by 9:00 a.m. and took a one-hour nap. At 9:50 a.m., Yao resumed his Olympiad contest and completed his circuit lab test by 11:00 a.m. 

Yao explained his passion for science and motivation to attend the Science Olympiad. “I’ve always been extremely curious about the world around me, always questioning and searching for answers,” he said. “Science Olympiad immediately stood out to me as a competition that utilized science to solve realistic problems.” 

Yao took another hour of break at 11:00 a.m. to meditate before eating lunch at 12:00 p.m. Since Yao finished his Science Olympiad tests, he started a new summer application essay at 1:00 p.m. and spent the next two hours completing a placement test. 

At 3:00 p.m., Yao returned to the Science Olympiad for the Awards Ceremony. After an hour of waiting, the contest organizers announced the team’s championship at the annual States Olympiad. From 5-6:00 p.m., Yao celebrated Exeter’s first championship victory at the contest with his fellow teammates.

Yao resumed his daily coding at 7:00 p.m while taking a five-minute break every thirty minutes. After an exhaustive yet fruitful day, Yao fell asleep at precisely 3:05 a.m.

“Sleep doesn’t affect my mood that much, most of what impacts my happiness are my extracurriculars and homework,” Yao said. “I would say that on a scale of 1-10, my happiness is about 8 that day just because we had a huge success at the competition. I felt productive and focused today, but throughout the rest of the week my happiness really downgraded.”

Yao woke up at 8:00 a.m. on Monday and forgot to eat his breakfast before class. Unlike usual, Yao didn’t have enough time to prepare for his class. From 9:00-11:15 a.m., Yao attended his morning classes. 

At 12:00 p.m., Yao ate a quick 20-minute lunch in between his classes. Directly after his last class at 2:00 p.m., Yao began studying for his Tuesday physics quiz. After two hours of productive review, Yao worked on English homework from 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Yao ate dinner at 6:00 p.m. for 30 minutes. Due to his academic workload, Yao reduced his coding exercises to two hours (6:30-8:30 p.m.).

At 9:00 p.m. Yao returned to his school work and started his physics lab. After two hours of studying, Yao began revising his Chinese test at 11:00 p.m. followed by four hours of English essay revision.

During the last 15 minutes of his day, Yao checked his homework, OLS schedule and alarm before he headed to sleep at 4:00 a.m., an hour later than usual. 

“Today I felt really down because my homework is directly related to the time I spend on my homework. I found myself turning off the lights and walking around the room when I feel sad,” Yao said. “The darkness calms me down and I would think about philosophical questions about life a lot. It helps me to maintain my productivity.” 

Yao reflected, “I feel less excited about life than before I came to Exeter, but I still feel supported by my community, friends and families here.”

Robbie Stankard ’21

By Minseo Kim and Jacqueline Subkhanberdina

Senior and Peabody Hall resident Robbie Stankard likes to start his school day with upbeat music, lifting with friends at 6:45 am and getting breakfast and a smoothie. He likes to conclude his day by heading to bed at exactly 11:11 pm. 

“I actually have a notification that pops up on this app that tells me it’s 11:11,” Stankard said. “I’m very superstitious like that. It’s like my special time my mom instilled in me, like when you make a wish or say a prayer.”

However, Stankard acknowledged that when there’s a big test or work, he’ll stay up later. “11:11 is just ideal,” he said. In order to squeeze in basketball practice, studying Greek (on the road to earn a Classics diploma), printmaking, spikeball games with friends, Manhunt in the Academy Building and even a water fight or two into his week, Stankard maintains a well-balanced schedule.

Stankard woke up at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 25. By 6:45 a.m., Stankard was on his way to the gym to meet with some friends. After about an hour of lifting, he grabbed breakfast and showered.

Feeling energized and ready to tackle the day, Stankard hopped onto his Zoom Sports Science class at 9:00 am. “[Sports Science] is so much more complicated than I ever could have thought. We’re going to do labs in the weight room, like testing different things about our body. I've been waiting to take this class until my senior spring, so I'm excited,” Stankard said. 

Later that day, Stankard attended his U.S. history class. He noted a discussion on the morality behind the U.S.’s atomic bomb droppings in Japan. “We had a really fruitful discussion on morality and if it can be considered just,” he said.

After a quick lunch, Health class and some campus exploration for Printmaking and virtual Creative Writing, Stankard finished his classes by 4:00 pm. He made his way directly from Peabody to the gym for some basketball and brought the day to a wind-down with a self-described 45-minute “dinner feast.”

Stankard dined with fellow senior and basketball player Lucas McEachern, and their dinner rotation included: an appetizer from Stone Oven Pizza, a first course at Grainger Auditorium and a final course at Elm Street Dining Hall. 

Stankard ended the day off winning a game of Manhunt with some friends at around 8:00 p.m. “I found a secret hiding spot around the back stairwell of the assembly hall underneath the stairs,” he said. 

Going to bed at his regular 11:11pm, Stankard reflected on his efficiency and happiness from the day, rating it a 5 out of 5.

Even at the end of the school week (Friday), Stankard held strong to his 7-hour sleep schedule and morning lift. “I put on a little TV show like Designated Survivor or Quantico, whatever the mood is that day, for a little entertainment because it’s the morning and I’ve been trying to play more because that’s one of the ways I can relax. I watch and shower, then designate a free hour to homework,” Stankard explains.

His morning classes for that day included Greek and U.S. History. Due to a free period, Stankard entered the lunch line early and avoided the long line, afterwards meeting his friends on the third floor of the Elizabeth Phillips Academy Center (EPAC).

Printmaking was one of Stankard’s afternoon classes. “We actually traveled around the campus and did these ‘rubbings.’ Essentially, we place a piece of paper over an object, shade over it, and then it comes out the other side of the paper, which I've never done before. It was super cool. I walked around campus and got different names off of plaques,” Stankard said. 

Stankard’s final class of the day was creative writing. “One big thing I’ve learned in that class is to read like a writer,” he said. “If you approach reading in this way, you’ll understand the stylistic choices they made and really analyze them. Then you can start to see how they set up the setting and the characters and all that fun stuff.”

The rest of the afternoon consisted of basketball practice and dinner. Stankard concluded his day with his usual nightly routine of wrapping up homework, a short gratitude exercise, quick snack, brushing teeth and, finally, bed. 

“Sleep is definitely important to me, but I rank it behind school work and basketball. At the same time, I have to choose between sleep and socializing,” Stankard said. 

On Saturday at 9:00 am, Stankard rose refreshed from nine hours of sleep. He grabbed some breakfast and as Varsity Basketball team captain, arrived ready for his 11:00 am full court team game. 

“And then I sat outside for lunch on the quad in the sun,” Stankard said. “That was just really nice. And it was like a picture perfect of a spring moment in my opinion,” Stankard said. 

At 2:00 p.m., Stankard watched the in-person girls’ lacrosse game. “They also played great. I know a lot of the girls on the team and there was a big crowd. That was really fun,” he said. 

He spent the rest of his afternoon perfecting his Spikeball skills until 7:00 pm. “I'm entering the Spikeball tournament, and I’m looking forward to anybody who thinks they can challenge me and my partner Lucas,” he jokingly boasted.

After a 7:00 p.m. dinner at Elm with friends, Stankard spent time talking with his friends in Grill and playing basketball at the gym for a couple hours. 

Before check-in, Stankard participated in a water bottle fight. “We popped holes in the top of a water bottle and started spraying… it was really fun,” Stankard said. By 11:00 p.m., Stankard returned to Peabody and relaxed and chatted with others in the dorm.

Alexandria Westray ’22

By Catherine Wu

Upper Alexandria Westray hails from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and as a co-Head of the Daniel Webster Debate Society (DWDS), Dorm Representative for Amen Hall, dedicated student and piano player, Westray always has a fully-packed agenda.

Westray began Wednesday, March 24, with breakfast at Elm Street dining hall at 8:15 a.m., having gone to bed the day before at 3:15 a.m. This bedtime is typical for Westray.

In the morning, Westray looked over her code for a science fair she was to be interviewed for that day called the Pittsburgh Regional & Engineering Science Fair (PRSEF). “Throughout the day, I had classes and three interviews for my virtual science competition [PRSEF],” Westray said. “It was hectic, but I got [Dean’s] approval to miss classes when necessary… I went late to Chinese and I missed English… By around 3:30 p.m., I was finished with classes and interviews.”

At 4:00 pm, Westray studied for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) for about an hour and a half. “I’ve been studying for the SAT since this past summer, but it’s been on and off,” she said. “I do very little at school, a lot less than I should, but when I was at home I had a lot more time. I usually study for all sections in the test and on Wednesday I just did a few practice sets.”

Then, she went for dinner with friends at 5:30 p.m., and judged a few practice debates for the DWDS the rest of the evening. 

Westray returned to Amen around 8:15 p.m., 45 minutes before check in. She relaxed with friends for an hour before starting homework for the night. “I was productive in good weather which always makes me happy,” Westray said. “When the weather’s nice you can do more things. Since we’re stuck on campus, if the weather is bad, we can only be in five to six buildings total. So when its nice weather being able to be outside increases the number of activities we can do especially in this monotonous year.”

She finished homework for her morning classes at around 3:00 a.m., went to bed at 3:30 a.m., and set her alarm for 8 a.m. the next morning.

Waking up at exactly 8:15 a.m. Thursday morning, Westray grabbed breakfast and continued working on her homework for that afternoon’s classes. Then, she went to four classes in total with a short 40-minute lunch break in between.

“From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., I practiced for my piano lesson, then had my lesson until 5:15. From 5:15 to 6:00 p.m. I had dinner outside with my friends, then from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. I participated in a Zoom call for PRSEF. From 7 to 8:30, I had another club,” Westray said.

When she returned, Westray called a friend from home for an hour, and then she and her co-Dorm Representative and upper Michelle Park went to pick up dorm supplies. Westray called and talked with her mom for around 15 minutes afterwards for a sense of home. 

“I wish I could’ve put those [phone calls] off but that’s what I did all semester long,” Westray said. “I lost contact with people from home or I didn’t talk to them as much, so, in a way, I wish I hadn’t talked to my friend and my mom that night because I had so much homework. I slept so late, but it also had to happen sometime, and I’m glad I didn’t continue procrastinating.”

Afterwards, Westray started homework around 11:30 and worked until 2 a.m. Before going to bed, “I set an alarm for 6:00 a.m.—two hours earlier than I usually wake up—so I could have time to study for a Chinese quiz and finish my homework for Friday, but I snoozed until 7.” Westray said. “That only gave me 2 hours to study for Chinese and finish my homework for the day. I ended up just studying for Chinese, so I still hadn’t finished my homework for afternoon classes,” she said.

Westray ended up completinghouse at 8:30 p.m.

“At 11:00 p.m., we watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Then, around 1 a.m., I went back to my room and realized I was behind on an article for another club, Matter Magazine. So I did some work on that and practiced some Chinese before falling asleep around 2 a.m.,” she said. 

With spring term classes almost fully in-person, Westray noted that “it was more tiring to be in person than I had anticipated.” “Even though it wasn’t a difficult week by normal measures, I was really exhausted,” Westray concluded.

Jennifer Finkelstein ’23

By Anna Kim 

Lower Jennifer Finkelstein is from Palo Alto, California and lives in Dunbar Hall on campus. A few of Finkelstein’s extracurricular activities include: Feminist Club, Democrat Club, POMS and Exonians Against Sexual Assault (EASA). Finkelstein’s days are packed chock-full.

After getting to bed around 3:00 a.m on Tuesday night, Finkelstein slept until around 8:00 a.m on Wednesday. “I definitely prefer working at night and then sleeping,” she said. 

After getting ready for classes, Finkelstein had classes from 9:00-10:00 a.m. During the assembly and lunch blocks, she stopped by the bookstore. 

Finkelstein’s classes resumed at 2:00 and completed by 3:20 p.m. On the side, Finkelstein also tutors kids in computer science through ESSO tutoring. After taking an hour-long nap, she spent two hours with friends and ate dinner. 

At 7:00 p.m., Finkelstein returned to Dunbar, beginning her homework at 8:00. She completed her homework by 11:00 p.m., showered and got ready for bed by 12:00 a.m. and went to bed at 2:00 a.m. after relaxing for two hours. “My night routine is showering, cleaning, brushing my teeth and washing my face, putting on pajamas, and usually spending some time listening to music or talking to friends,” she said. 

Wednesday was not her best day this week, Finkelstein said. While she felt prepared for appointments, she said she lacked in efficiently completing her work. She also noted that she felt  unenergetic. 

“I could’ve gotten my work done earlier in the evening,” Finkelstein said. “I just kind of push it off, so it’s not like I have too much work. If I wrote down that I spent an hour-and-a-half on homework, half-an-hour might not have been utilized productively.”

Finkelstein’s Sunday was more relaxed. She spent the late evening (12:00-1:00 a.m.) with friends, showered at 1:00 AM and slept from 2:00 to 8:00 a.m. She stayed in bed, eventually falling back asleep. She fully woke up at 11:00 AM and ate brunch with friends. 

After spending some time with friends, she did some homework from 1:00-2:00 p.m. and then took another nap from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

In the late afternoon, Finkelstein attended a drivers’ ed class. Finkelstein had dinner around 6:00 p.m. and called her family for Passover. After, she helped another friend with their schoolwork at 9:00 p.m., finished her own work at 11:00 p.m. and went to bed at midnight.

According to Finkelstein, Sunday’s rainy weather negatively affected her mood and efficiency. Regardless, Finkelstein felt prepared for Monday.

Tuesday was a good day, Finkelstein said. She slept around five hours from 2:00 to 7:00 a.m, prepared for her day and ate breakfast before 8:00 a.m. 

Finkelstein’s class day spanned from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a short lunch break in the middle. After classes, Finkelstein prepared for dance company and completed a bit of her homework. She ate dinner at 6:00 p.m. then attended the weekly Student Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. She spent an hour with friends before heading to her room for the night to do her homework which took around three hours. Compared to other days, Finkelstein said she felt efficient with her work.

Though she averaged around five hours of sleep per night, Finkelstein said that she prefers to sleep less at night and take naps during the day.  “If I manage my time better, I could probably sleep more. It would definitely not hurt, but I think I get enough sleep,” she said. 

Finkelstein continued, “I wasn’t particularly busy this week, but I slept less than average because I wasted a lot of time,” she said. “If I could’ve changed one thing about this week, I probably would’ve gone to bed earlier.”