Stephanie Andrade is that girl who is as diligent as she is quiet. Mitch Karmis is that guy with the glasses who sleeps in your morning classes. Both are rampant perfectionists with creative minds and a taste for good coffee.

STEPH: Young college students don’t get enough sleep, duh, what else is new.

According to a study done by the University of Alabama, college students are twice as likely to be sleep deprived than the general population. Yikes, but that’s explainable given the average college kid’s lifestyle. But what do college kids really care about when it comes to sleep? Why is sleeping such an issue? The answer to those questions can go many ways, but as a full-time college student who gets plenty of sleep, I would say that I fear mostly the idea of losing sleep.

MITCH: Hold on, I just woke up. Keep explaining your part. I’ll catch up in a sentence or two.

STEPH: The study was conducted by Dr. Adam Knowlden, a professor in University of Alabama, and Dr. Manoj Sharma, a researcher. The study concluded that the surveyed college students were more worried about present issues such as hindering their abilities. There is a strong correlation between cognitive performance and the amount of sleep one gets. However, the average sleep deprived college student doesn’t think about the long-term health impacts they might have.

MITCH: So you’re telling me that people like me are hurting their health by not taking part in a bodily function key to our survival? Hold the press, we’ve got breaking news!

STEPH: As I mentioned before I’m a college student that gets plenty of those Z’s and manages to keep stress levels down. I sleep when I feel tired or when I feel drowsy. I’ve tried staying up late to complete my assignments and my body can handle being awake, but my cognitive capability to actually focus is inept and weak. Trying to read and analyze Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics,” or trying to think about How Ought One Live at one in the morning requires a lot of brain power; brain power .

MITCH: In all seriousness, neglecting sleep isn’t just limited to hurting you; it can really take a toll on your GPA. In a 2001 study conducted by WE Kelly, KE Kelly and RC Clanton for College Student Journal, out of 148 undergraduate students, the 23 students classified as “short sleepers” (6 or less hours of sleep per night) indicated a correlation with significantly lower GPAs overall, with an average of 2.74 compared to the 3.24 GPA of “long sleepers.”

STEPH: In college, time is the enemy but also your only best friend. In college, students often struggle to balance their social life, work, and classes. However learning to prioritize what’s really important is a skill many lack.  
MITCH: Absolutely. Take it from a procrastinator: Budgeting your time is incredibly important. Yes, it’s tempting to pull an all-nighter to get big projects done at the last minute- I would know, I do that almost every week, it seems- but there comes a point when you need to take care of yourself. You should always try and make time to do the best work possible, but if it comes down to an assignment or your health, it may be more beneficial in both cases to focus on getting some rest.