While teenagers need a good night’s sleep to support the growth and development of their brains, many Pascack Valley students share that their after-school schedules make maintaining a healthy sleep cycle difficult. 

At PV, and likely at many high schools throughout the country, students tend to balance all sorts of after-school activities while cramming in the time to complete homework. 

Amelia Sileo, a Valley senior and a swimmer on the Pascack Swim and Dive Team, says she tries to complete her homework “as soon as I get home, so I have the rest of the night to relax and have time to myself.” 

During her swim season, Sileo has to wake up at 4:30 a.m. every day for practice, often making her feel tired. She says, however, that “now that [swim is] over, I wake up at 6:30, and I’m definitely more energized during the school day.” 

Another PV student, junior Luke Dargan, starts his homework around 9 p.m., after he finishes track practice, eats dinner, and showers. Dargan generally goes to bed around 1:30 a.m. due to the amount of homework he receives from school; he then usually wakes up around 6 a.m.. 

When asked if he would like to change his sleeping habits, Dargan said, “I would if I had less of a workload from school, but, unfortunately, since I have a lot of homework I can’t.”

To compensate for his limited sleep, Dargan drinks a “medium cold brew from Dunkin every morning” and naps when he can. 

Another Valley junior, Leah Levant, usually goes to bed much earlier; she said she typically goes to bed at 9:30 every night, but she still feels tired throughout the day. 

Levant said she drinks three to four cups of coffee in the mornings to keep herself going through the day but is “trying to cut down.”  

While many students seem to maintain poor sleeping habits, PV senior Hannah Zeman manages a 10-12 hour sleep schedule. 

Zeman goes to sleep around 8:30 every night and feels that she benefits from the sleep, as she is “awake and energized throughout the day.”  

While her sleep schedule wasn’t always this restful, Zeman said that she feels that her sleep schedule improved this year because she takes zero period Phys. Ed.. “So I [had] to work on getting up in the morning,” Zeman said. 

As some people may find it difficult to go to sleep early, Zeman has some advice. 

“If you can’t fall asleep, listen to a YouTube recording of a meditation,” Zeman said. “I always go to bed [with] meditation.”