Tangents & Tirades

by The Cowl Editor on March 23, 2017


Opinion


Photo courtesy of lewistonmaine.gov

College Snow Days are a Blessing

The annoucement of a snow day always recieves a diverse response across campus. Some Providence College students use snow days as a way to catch up or even get ahead on their work for the week, while others use it as a day off to relax and catch up on some sleep.

Either way, snow days are a blessing and  students should be happy to have an unexpected day off.

That being said, students deal with the snow itself in different ways. Some students, typically those who don’t come from the Northeast and have not encountered much snow before, seem to stay away from the outdoors and remain perfectly content with being snowed-in in their dorm rooms. Other, more hardy, students dread the idea of being trapped in their dorms for a day and venture outside to experience the storm.

There is some disagreement amongst students over snow in March. Some seem not to mind the bad weather at all, while others, especially those returning from a warm Spring Break, seem utterly outraged.

However, students likely agree that the best thing about snow days in college is both not having to make up the days missed at the end of the semester and having someone else deal with the issue of shoveling the snow.

– Katherine Opiela ’20

To Nap or Not to Nap?

From the time we are children we are told how important it is to get a good night’s sleep. In kindergarten we were even given a certain amount of time out of the school day to take a nap.

As you get older, however, you have more freedom to decide when to go to bed. By the time you are in college, it is recommended to get around eight hours of sleep every night. As almost every college student can attest, this is virtually impossible.

Between staying up late to finish homework, meeting with study groups, and very necessary Netflix binges, getting a solid eight hours of sleep is just unrealistic. Those who were self-identified night owls in high school are already at a disadvantage. What you considered to be late in high school might now be when you finally start your homework.

Naps become an essential part of the day, but they are also risky. If you take a nap during the day you are risking not being able to fall asleep that night. Or you might take a much longer nap than expected and end up having to stay up all night to prepare for the next day of classes. Even if you have excellent time management skills, it can often be hard to get everything done before you reach the point of not being able to stay awake.

And when you do finally fall asleep, you may fall victim to noisy roommates who do not share the same sleep schedule. Getting the proper amount of sleep is necessary in order to survive, but in college it can be downright impossible.

– Bridget Blain ’19

No More Early Morning Classes

Taking an 8:30 a.m. class doesn’t seem so bad until you’re stuck taking 8:30 a.m. classes Monday through Friday, which is exactly what happened to me. Frankly, I’m not exactly sure why 8:30 a.m. classes exist to begin with. I’m sure I can speak for the majority of college students when I say sleep is something to be treasured and not taken lightly.

While balancing homework, exercise, a social life, and the bare necessities—such as eating and showering—there are simply not enough hours in the day. Therefore, college students have a tendency to go to bed at odd, late hours. An early morning class prevents students from receiving the proper amount of sleep they need on a nightly basis.

According to an article in The Independent, a lack of sleep causes a “decline in cognitive ability; our brains just don’t work properly without sleep. [It] can have severe effects on our performance, ranging from irritability and low mood, through to an increased risk of heart disease and a higher incidence of road traffic accidents.”

So why would Providence College, a well-respected institution that facilitates higher-learning, offer 8:30 a.m. classes knowing what they know  about the dangers of little sleep? I suggest changing 8:30 a.m. classes to 9:30 a.m. classes.

The College can still make use of the early hours of the day and it also won’t be as cold later in the morning. In fact, I’m sure students and teachers will be more alert, and it will create an overall better atmosphere for all. I would much rather attend 9:30 am. classes Monday through Friday as opposed to 8:30 a.m. classes.

– Laura Arango ’20