A Sleepless Night - Blog 5

One Monday morning, Caleb was sitting in his 8 am chemistry class. He knew that next Wednesday was the first exam of the class, and he needed to ace it. He had done poorly on the last quiz, so the test would be a needed boost to his grade.

The professor began to write out the lecture notes at the front of the room. As he wrote, Caleb began to plan out his next several days. He would spend Monday afternoon studying the notes and going over the past quizzes. Tuesday wouldn’t work because he wanted to meet up with some friends after class. He looked through the past week’s notes and decided that Monday would give him just enough time to finish. That means that the only thing left would be to get a good night’s sleep on Tuesday and get to class on time.

The rest of Monday went according to plan. Caleb went to his other classes, got lunch, and then went to the library to study. He reviewed chemical kinetics, the integrated rate laws, and several formulas that would be on the exam. Once he felt confident, he walked back to his room.

As Caleb swiped his card to get into Dorman Hall, he began to think about Wednesday’s test. The studying was done, so now he only needed a good night’s sleep to be ready for Wednesday.

“I wonder if my roommate is asleep yet,” he thought to himself. Caleb loved everything about his roommate, except for one thing: he snores. While he may be an amicable person during the day, at night he becomes a beast. This man does not saw logs while he sleeps, he fells entire forests. The only thing that makes his snoring less of an issue is his tendency to stay up late. Caleb almost always fell asleep before his roommate, so the snoring wasn’t a problem.

Tonight however, Caleb had stayed out late studying. When he entered his room, his roommate was already asleep in his bed, snoring away. Caleb quietly got ready for bed and then closed his eyes. At first, he felt calm. He was in his own bed, in his room, ready to fall asleep and wake up for the next day.

Unfortunately, his brain did not agree. Try as he might, Caleb was not able to fall asleep while listening to the snoring. He tried rolling on his side, then his other side. He put his head under his pillow, then his blankets over that. No matter what way he twisted or turned, all he could think about was the snoring coming from the other side of the room.

Caleb began to worry. If he couldn’t get to sleep then how would he go to class tomorrow? That would require an all nightery, but if he messed up his sleep schedule he wouldn’t be well rested for his chemistry exam. Caleb had taken exams while tired in the past, and it did not go well. As he lay there in the darkness his mind began to race. Chemistry was a required class for his major. Failing it could mean that he would have to change his major, and that isn’t an option. That means he would have to drop out and move back home. He could already hear his mother welcoming him home.

After two sleepless hours, Caleb got out his headphones and decided to listen to some music until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. At this point, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep quickly. He woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly well rested. Apparently, he crashed so hard that his body was fully rested by morning. Fortunately Wednesday’s exam went well, and Caleb now keeps his headphones right next to his bed in case he ever gets home late.