During my first semester of college, the lack of sleep was preventing me from meetingmy academic potential. I could barely concentrate in my classes. I couldn’t focus on mywriting assignments, and my mind would wander when I read. In math I would make sillymistakes: forget to multiply or bring down a sign. I would get frustrated quickly and doubtmy abilities as a college student.After speaking to a friend, a fourth year college student, I analyzed my day andrecognized I was sleeping only 4 hours a day. After realizing this I adjusted my scheduleto include 7 hours of continuous sleep. The next day after a full nights rest I was able tocomprehend and focus on my classes and understand the material.Our Brains need 6 ½ to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per day for some maybe evenmore, know how much sleep you need. Symptoms to look out for: Exhaustion, fatigueand lack of physical energy are common sleep deprivation symptoms. Exhaustion andfatigue affect our emotional moods, causing pessimism, sadness, stress and anger.Symptoms can interfere with memory, energy levels, mental abilities, and emotionalmood.This summer I caught the flu/cold. It put me out of commission for an entire weekend. Ihad to study for a math test, and write an essay that was due that Monday, I couldn’tconcentrate no matter how hard I tried, my brain and my body just wouldn’t let me, so Islept instead of studying. I was not prepared for my math test and I was a week late onmy essay.Stay healthy, take vitamins, take time to eat, get enough sleep, and exercise.I was given an essay assignment two weekends before it was due. Since I believed Ihad plenty of time to get it done, I decided to write my paper the following weekend, but Icouldn’t because that weekend I was sick. I was behind for the entire week following mysickness. If I had done my assignment sooner I wouldn’t have been behind the followingweek.