sleeping in class

friday’s are rough. last friday in modern art, it seemed like half of the class had fallen asleep or wanted to. i couldn’t snag a pic with my phone because the prof has a fairly strict “no technology” rule. but it got me thinking—falling asleep in class is an integral part of growing up in america. there is hardly anything more american than being lazy and blatantly sticking it to the man, right?

my favourite part is when a class sleeper wakes up. haha. it’s funny to watch as the disoriented student tries to come to terms with the non-sleeping world once they’ve been rudely awoken. a few things always happen—

• confusion: nobody can figure out why their bed is so hard and shaped like a desk. also they don’t immediately understand how the wall beside them turned into another student who isn’t wearing their favourite prince poster.
• sleep scars/wounds: the notebook does a wonder on the face. the worst one i’ve ever seen was a spiral bound from the eye to the ear. i just don’t understand how something like that doesn’t wake somebody up.
• disgust: as they come to grips with their surroundings, there is always a look of disgust (no matter how slight) when the student realizes s/he is in class. it’s rare to see more contempt for the teacher/class than in that brief moment of realization.
• nodding off: while sometimes this also precedes the nap, it almost always follows. here’s the thing about sleeping in class…when the student is woken up, it’s not cause they’re ready to wake up. usually there’s a loud noise or something disruptive that does the job. thus…they are always still sleepy. some of the funniest jolting moments happen when somebody is nodding off. (sidenote—look for a person nodding off if you are bored in class. endless entertainment.)

the worst has got to be the teachers who think it’s cool to wake students up and put them on the spot. honestly. the student probably fell asleep cause the class was too boring to begin with. or possibly they were up too late doing the piles of homework that the teacher assigned. in any case…they’re not missing much.

so as i’m getting ready to graduate from college in a month and looking back at my experience in education—i wish i had slept more. i was always too afraid to. i liked being the good student. and i was afraid i’d be laughed at if i carried the impression of my notebook out of the room on my forehead or cheek. but i wish my fear of embarrassment hadn’t deterred my restless jittering just to stay awake in class.

add this to your to-do list:

show the notebook some love…put your head down in class. =)