At Exeter, Sleep Is Optional
After finishing class at 6 p.m., I grab dinner at D-hall. By 6:30 p.m., I have to put down my knife and fork and rush to the music building for orchestra. Of course, this is not just me rushing; around two hundred other students also have music appointments from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. By the time I come back to my dorm after cleaning and packing my violin, it’s around 8:30. Lights-out is at 10:30, so I only have two hours to finish five subjects of homework (which, at a minimum of around 50 minutes a class, would exceed 4 hours). Finishing my homework before lights-out is not possible, so I rebel and stay up past lights-out to finish. Ironically, I end up breaking school rules to follow school requirements, but I also know that I’m not alone.
Finding a balance between work and free time is a universal conundrum, but it is especially difficult to achieve in a work-heavy environment such as Exeter. Over the past three years, I have seen more failures than successes at finding this equilibrium here, mostly because of the lack of free time. Perhaps, in this case, lacking free time is not a personal problem, but a problem at Exeter in general.
The problem is not just for people with many musical appointments. Students who need to spend a required amount of time for sport teams or certain clubs are also constantly chased by their obligations outside of homework to have enough time to finish it. In other words, the vast majority of Exonians are plagued by this paradoxical situation.
Of course, it is a valid argument that us Exeter students should have expected heavy workloads when applying for the school. But what are the benefits of fostering an environment where a successful all-nighter to finish work is congratulated, and students fight over who got fewer hours of sleep? It is incredibly ironic, as demonstrated by my personal experiences, to set school rules that must be broken to fulfill our school requirements while still managing basic activities like sleeping, eating and cleaning. The school needs to adapt rules that will help us complete the assigned school work, not hinder it.
The resolution is not simple. For example, decreasing the workload—as it has been voiced by many students as an answer—is completely insensible. As much as it is a plain fact that there are teachers who assign homework that exceeds the maximum 75 minute guideline, there are also teachers that pose homework well under the set standard. The amount of time a subject of homework takes is also conditional to each student’s ability and will. Therefore, we can only hope that continuous analysis of a teacher’s PIE (Post-Instructional Evaluation) will play a large role in the long term in creating a more regulated homework time set by each teacher. Clearer homework timetables might ensue from the faculty’s steady use of PIE, but it is not a concrete solution to the impossible balance of work and free time.
Neither can we merely give up the clubs that consume our potential free time. The majority of us take part in clubs willingly and enthusiastically; they are an essential part of our high school experience and necessary to our development and success as students and individuals. Students are also aware of the realities of college preferences of students who are “active members” of school communities portrayed through their dedication to clubs. On that account, a reduction in clubs to help increase free-time would not make sense; that would go against the very ethos of Exeter.
Completing homework aside, leisure time is important. In fact, the benefits of daydreaming, or a resting mind, are endless. A Huffington Post article “How Daydreaming Can Actually Make You Smarter”shows that there is scientific proof of innumerable boons from a well rested mind. They include improved cognitive function, reduced stress levels, boosts in compassion and better long term and short term memory. An article on Harvard Business Review, “Get Your Goals Back on Track,” has even raved about how resting one’s mind helps one set clearer goals and find the motivation to succeed. Exeter students preparing for college will greatly benefit from boosts in creating “realistic goals” and gathering motivation in work.
Perhaps the solution is to adapt the inhibiting school rules, but without jeopardizing our academic and extracurricular rigor. It is a sensitive and a personal procedure to find the right amount of workload for the entire school, so it would be an easier resolution to delay the lights-out hour. An increase in number of long weekends is another solution.
It would help students gain time for both school work and leisure time, while fostering an environment that both promotes rest and work. No matter the solution, what is most important is that Exeter takes measure quickly to advance a school policy that assists students in finding a balance between heavy work and free time, leading to enforceable school rules that are protecting, not stymieing, students.