TO THE EDITOR:
We’ve all experienced it: waking up late and running to class in PJs, everything un-brushed, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and flipping through flashcards with the other. This nightmarish situation too often becomes a reality for students with 8 a.m. classes.
UNC should do away with this frequently skipped time slot. It is too early for students, too early for teachers and dreaded by everyone.
Early classes prevent many students from enough sleep. Most students go to bed at the same time regardless of when their alarm will buzz the next morning. For a busy UNC student, bedtime is usually past midnight. My friend walking to his 8 a.m. art class Wednesday said he had only gotten four hours of sleep the previous night. He was praying that the class would be watching a movie so he could pay off some of his sleep debt. On Mondays and Wednesdays when I wake up at 6:30 a.m., I too notice myself nodding off in my afternoon classes.
The business world operates on a 9 a.m to 5 p.m. schedule, and I think UNC should also adopt a more standard workday. Fewer crack-of-dawn classes would mean happier students, happier teachers and probably happier grades.
Where there’s a will there’s a way. When it comes to 8 a.m., I know there’s a will.
Eric Surber ’16
Journalism and Mass Communication
