An active work-life balance is important. This means that school, work, activities, hobbies, social time, exercise and sleep are valued equally.
College students tend to have limited options to prioritize. The choice lies between maintaining good grades, having a social life and getting enough sleep each night to properly function throughout the day.
It’s a hard choice to make. A continuous uneven work-life balance can eventually lead to burnout. However, not studying can lead to falling behind in classes. Lack of sleep can be even more detrimental to a student’s success. Maintaining the balance is the key to student success.
Finding a place to belong is one step in finding a balance.
Cat Moore, Director of Belonging at USC, is coming to the Concordia College campus on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022 to shed light on how important belonging can be. She herself has experienced chronic loneliness. After learning how meaningful social interactions and connections were, Moore developed curriculum to address relationship reform in education.
Moore is scheduled to headline three different events all in one day, starting with a conversation with faculty and staff. Next, she’ll be a keynote speaker for the entire campus. Finally, in the evening, she will lead a discussion about meaningful friendships around a campfire. All can be found on posters around campus.
Already, she has reached out to club leaders and led a virtual session about how to build a community within a club.
Alongside talking about what it means to belong, this topic also brings up the conversation about loneliness.
Kumba Glay, a junior majoring in accounting and finance, has implemented Moore’s curriculum and ideas into the Black Student Union as the organization’s president. At the virtual session, Glay asked a couple of questions about the difference between loneliness and being alone. Moore answered that solitude is a choice. “If you choose to exclude yourself from everyone, that is a choice you’re making and that is also being aware of your needs,” Glay summarized.
Glay also is concerned about how the Black Student Union can foster an environment of belonging to a greater degree. Moving forward, she learned that the best way to foster that type of environment is to strongly advocate for her club members to state their needs so that they as a group can work together to meet them.
Cat Moore is being featured at Concordia College as part of the Lorentzen Center’s theme: “Building A More Faithful World.” Their mission with Moore is to bring in a conversation about the importance of making friends and feeling a sense of belonging.
Michael Chan, Executive Director for Faith and Learning, was part of the planning process for these upcoming events.
“It wouldn’t surprise me that some of these issues around loneliness get pushed aside in a student’s busy life,” Chan said.
Belonging is an important part of managing a work-life balance. Sleep is just as important.
According to SleepAdvisor.org, college students are not getting enough sleep. Many students are averaging 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep per night.
Mikel Olsen, a psychology professor, has previously taught a summer course about sleep.
The course is called, “Psychology and Neuroscience of Sleep.” Students with prerequisites of “Introduction to Psychology” and “Introduction to Neuroscience” can take this course in the summer. The course was last taught in the summer of 2019. As part of the class, students are instructed to keep a detailed log of their sleep.
“Typically, the optimal amount of sleep for a person in going to be about 7.5 and 9 hours,” said Olsen. “If you ask Concordia students if they get more than eight hours of sleep per night, you are going to have a very small number say they do.”
Not achieving the recommended amount of sleep can do more harm than good. The effects of sleep deprivation can lead to low concentration and can add even more stress. Getting on a consistent sleep schedule can remedy the effects of sleep deprivation. A work-life balance can be challenging as a student, but getting enough sleep, feeling a sense of belonging, and making time for studying can make for a better college experience.
