Interview with the vampire student

Columbia is an institution that students choose to attend to better themselves. Students cannot possibly hope to do this, however, if they cannot first maintain a positive quality of life. As registration draws to a close, the administration might consider that one thing Columbia could do to improve the lives of its student is to end obligatory undergraduate classes at night, or classes that begin after 5 p.m.—if a class is required to satisfy a student’s undergraduate requirements, that class should not be only offered in the evening.

Some classes are only offered at night, forcing undergraduate students to register for a late session. These classes compel undergraduates to lead a different lifestyle than they might otherwise choose. Many undergraduates have classes during the morning and day and use the night for study time. An undergraduate should be entitled to free time at night instead of spending the late hours in a dumpy Hamilton seventh-floor classroom. We should not have to spend Thursday nights locked up in a classroom. There are a wide variety of lifestyles at Columbia, and part of the learning process at college is to discover what works best for an individual. Some students, for example, lock themselves in Butler all weekend. Others space out their study time over the course of the week. Granted, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but whether they are or not should ultimately be left up to the student. We as undergraduates should be able to choose when we take mandatory classes.

Some may say that night classes are necessary for students to have more options of sections to register for. Some students are night owls and would rather live during the night than during the day. These students may only want to take night classes. However, the benefits of having more class choices clearly outweigh whatever benefits there may be from mandating night classes. Studies have shown that people perform better when refreshed from sleep than after a day’s worth of stress. Other studies have shown that sustained wakefulness leads to decreased performance. According to National Sleep Research, a student who is up for 17 hours will have a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.5 percent, or more than half the legal limit. Furthermore, the Public School Review has found that students who follow a regular, consistent daily schedule, usually go to sleep early, and sleep for about eight hours a day have stronger academic performances than their peers who don’t. Students who take classes towards the beginning of their day would be more refreshed than they would be taking classes at the end of the day. 

From these studies, it seems that having classes during the day is healthier for students. With the option to arrange one’s schedule to exclude night classes, students would be able to create a work schedule similar to the one from elementary to high school. Students should have the option to put less stress and fatigue on themselves in trying to adapt to a new daily schedule. Also, those who finish classes earlier would have more time to find or cook a healthy and nutritious dinner without having to resort to fast food. Night courses, particularly at 6:10 or later, take up a chunk of time during an inconvenient period. Students who have class during this time often resort to either eating a rushed, early dinner, which results in hunger late at night, or hold their hunger until 8 p.m. without any sustenance. Yes, one can eat snacks, but this only adds calories to an already caloric American undergraduate diet.

It is as if classes that are currently only held at night could not possibly be offered at a more convenient time. A student should be able to easily schedule courses from 9:10 in the morning to 5:30 in the afternoon. It should be feasible to finish a day’s classes before 6 p.m. But most importantly, in the context of an institution dedicated to making students the best that they can be, these earlier time slots would not only be beneficial for students, but are also necessary for the improvement of student life on campus.

The author is a sophomore in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.