Morning habits can vary from person to person. It’s especially hard to find people who have the motivation to do other things besides preparing for school, unless they’re in cross country or other sports requiring morning training, but that isn’t always the case.

Although a majority of Spartans feel tired in the morning because school starts way too early for their liking, some others might be morning birds who enjoy going out for a run in the morning.

“[I]t’s something that brings me peace and it’s fun for me,” sophomore and varsity cross country runner Kingsley Brown said. “I just get to run, be out in nature. [E]ven though it’s hard you still get the endorphins.”

Unlike motivated runners such as Brown, there are plenty of students who often snooze their alarms in the morning.

“I let my alarm go off and I turn it off, and then I lay in bed for ten minutes on my phone—I know it’s a bad habit,” senior Leah Autry said.

Although social media and the use of technology in general before falling asleep may suppress a student’s melatonin, a hormone that causes drowsiness (1), teenagers’ sleep schedules are biologically shifted two hours later, meaning they naturally fall asleep later and would want to wake up later as well (2).

“I talked to my friends about this and they go to sleep at twelve just because [of] school work, or just cause they can’t get to sleep,” Brown said. “I guess more so it’s finding what works for you to get to sleep and get all your work done, not procrastinate—I know I struggle with that a lot.”

The accumulated tiredness from school follows a student home: the amount of time students spend on their phones might distract them from getting homework done, pushing them to do it later at night; and, the amount of time people spend on their phones before falling asleep further modifies their sleep schedule.

According to BetterHealth (3), “chronic sleep deprivation can have dramatic effects on a teenager’s life, including affecting their mental well-being and reducing their academic performance at school.”

Waking up in the morning on a school day may be difficult for students due to all these factors, but it’s simply about finding the motivation in getting small things done that helps students get through their day.

“You can start small and be like ‘okay, I’m gonna run this bit, tiny bit, tiny bit,’ and start growing [little by little],” Brown said. “If you think of it as [something] a lot less than it is, it’s easier to do it. […] It’s not as difficult as you realize, cause once it starts becoming a habit it’s easy.”

SOURCES:

1. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+does+blue+light+affect+sleep&sca_esv=580462557&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1072US1072&ei=JJNLZbWtLJq0qtsPqKOFoAg&oq=how+does+blue+light+&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAaAhgBIhRob3cgZG9lcyBibHVlIGxpZ2h0ICoCCAIyBxAAGIoFGEMyBRAAGIAEMggQABiABBiLAzIIEAAYgAQYiwMyChAAGIoFGEMYiwMyCBAAGIAEGIsDMggQABiABBiLAzIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABEiWJVCrDFirDHABeAGQAQCYAWegAWeqAQMwLjG4AQHIAQD4AQHCAgoQABhHGNYEGLAD4gMEGAAgQYgGAZAGCA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp 
2. https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/sleep-disorder-center/sleep-in-adolescents
3. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/teenagers-and-sleep