We live in a town in western Massachusetts with five colleges, so this is a particularly busy time of year, as the town swells with students both eager and apprehensive about the pending college term. I observe, first hand, across the many campuses, families and friends helping these students unload their bags, books and gear, as they prepare to take on the challenges of college life. The future of the world is their hands.
As an academician and research scientist, I'm acutely aware of the effects of stress on college students. In a Gallup State of Sleep in America report, for instance, 64% of college-aged adults claimed to experience "a lot" of daily stress. Stress, brought on by schedules, assignments, exams and social influences, can have detrimental consequences. Most notably, high levels of stress increase the probability of poor sleep quality by 96%. For 55% of young adults, sleep is given a higher priority and greater importance than spending time with family or eating healthy. And it's the lack of sleep for which students pay the highest price.
Recently, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, integrating data from three independent universities, measured the correlation between total nightly hours of sleep and end-of-semester GPA scores. The authors reported that fewer than six hours of nightly sleep, early in the term, was associated with lower GPA scores by the end of the term. Every additional hour of nightly sleep contributed to a significant rise in GPA.
This is just one of the reasons why I helped design the SOMO Sleep Fitness mask. It's not only light-blocking, which is a necessity in almost any college domicile, but its patent-pending SOMOsphere acupoint helps to reduce stress, induce calm and promote sleep quality. So, as students ready themselves for the academic year, and life, a SOMO sleep mask is a simple self-care essential that should make the top ten most important items on their packing list.
rest easy
References
Creswell, J.D., Tumminia, M.J., Price, S., et.al. (2023). Nightly sleep duration predicts grade point average in the first year of college. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 120(8): 1 - 7.
Gallup. (2023). Casper-Gallup State of Sleep in America 2022 Report. Retrieved August 29, 2023, from https://www.gallup.com/analytics/390536/sleep-in-america-2022.aspx.
