Sleep is essential to human life. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should be getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night.

Sleep helps us solidify and consolidate memories, according to the foundation. Throughout our day, and especially as college students, we take in a vast amount of information in a short time span. During sleep, our experiences are processed and transferred from our short-term memory to our long-term memory.

This is why it is more beneficial to study before going to bed; the short-term memories you acquire from studying become long-term memories, and the information is easier to retrieve the next day.

The National Sleep Foundation also states that our bodies rejuvenate overnight. While we sleep, we allow our bodies to heal, grow muscle, repair tissue and synthesize hormones.

As college students, sleep is extremely important to us. We need seven to nine hours of sleep each night, but unfortunately, that amount of rest is not always possible. Priorities like work, classes and studying sometimes place sleep on the back burner.

The National Sleep Foundation says we cannot make up the sleep we miss. We might try to sleep later for the number of hours we skipped, but this does not lessen the original deprivation’s impact.

For us to function at full capacity, we need to be aware of how much sleep impacts our daily life. A sluggish feeling and excessive yawning can indicate that you are not getting enough sleep at night.

According to the Center for Disease Control, consistency is key for improving sleep habits. The center recommends that people go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time each morning; this schedule makes sleep patterns more regular.

Students tend to underestimate the importance of consistent and scheduled sleep. Instead, they prioritize school because they think it will be more beneficial to them in the long run. Unfortunately, this misguided decision has negative consequences on students’ health and impacts how they function in daily life.