Sleepless in Ithaca

Instead of falling asleep at 10 p.m., Daniel, a junior psychology major at Ithaca College, has just woken up. He was too tired to stay awake in the afternoon, but now he won’t be able to get back to sleep until 2 or 3 a.m. Because he won’t get enough sleep at night, tomorrow he’ll be tired again in the afternoon.

The Fountains at Ithaca College

College students are notorious for their unconventional sleep schedules. The transition to online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic has merged school and personal time, meaning even more students are having difficulty getting enough sleep at night and staying awake during the day. The Ithaca College Center for Health Promotion hosts the THRIVE @ IC Wellness Coaching program, which includes one-on-one sessions and group workshops for building resiliency to help students address these sleep difficulties and other health concerns. According to Program Director Nancy Reynolds, a Health Education Specialist and National Board-certified health and wellness coach, anyone can start taking steps today to improve their sleep cycle and overall wellness.

A good night’s sleep might be hard to get for some, experts agree, but it’s easy to define. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults college-aged and up need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Sleep is generally better without frequent awakenings and when you keep a consistent routine, waking up and going to bed at similar times every day.

Reynolds points out signs of a poor sleep schedule that may sound familiar to college students.

“Do you feel well-rested in the morning?” Reynolds asks. “What’s your fatigue level during the day? Because that’s another marker of if you’re not getting enough sleep or a good quality of sleep. You’re going to notice during the day that you’re feeling groggy, maybe you’re falling asleep in class, you’re having to take naps every day because you’re so tired.”

It’s a stereotype that college students choose to stay up past midnight and sleep into the afternoon, but many students like Daniel, who requested that his full name not be published, really do have difficulty getting up and staying awake.

According to Reynolds, various aspects of student culture contribute to unhealthy sleep schedules. When students spend time on phones and laptops late into the night, she noted, blue light from these devices prevents the brain from releasing sleep chemicals. Reynolds said that many students also struggle with time management, especially when they’re juggling a lot of responsibilities. That can force students to stay up late to complete all their tasks or assignments, she said. Reynolds also points to a strange element of college culture in which students “compete” to be the busiest or the most sleep deprived—which some students dub the “Sleep Olympics.”

The switch to online learning has further complicated student sleep problems, Reynolds said. Students face even more hours of screen time, and the line between schoolwork and rest of life is blurred. It’s not unusual for students to log in to a class on Zoom and see several classmates attending from their beds. Reynolds explained that taking online classes from the same room all day may be another reason students are struggling with sleep.

“We’re not getting variety in our day in terms of social connections and moving around to different environments—walking around campus, going to the library, hanging out in different students’ rooms,” she said. “We’re not getting the same amount of stimulation that our brains need to make our bodies ready for sleep at night.”

Along with lack of stimulation, Covid-19 has introduced new stressors, such as social, financial, and health-related worries, that may keep students up at night, Reynolds said. She noted that many people are coping with feelings of grief for those they have lost to Covid-19.

Reynolds said that sleep and mental health are strongly interconnected. Bad moods, low energy, and difficulty in focusing due to lack of sleep take a toll on mental health.

Reynolds explained that sleep cycles necessary to maintaining mental wellness can be interrupted for many reasons, one of which is substance use.

“Some students are self-medicating with cannabis,” she said, explaining how students use marijuana to help them fall asleep at night. “The downside is we know scientifically that THC and cannabis prevent us from going into REM sleep, which is dream sleep. If you don’t get dream sleep on a continual basis, your mood may suffer.”

Struggling with mental health can cause poor sleep, and in turn poor sleep can make it difficult to focus on one’s mental health, Reynolds said. Anxiety specifically feeds into this cycle, as racing thoughts keep people awake, and the resulting poor sleep causes them to feel like they can’t handle challenges in their lives, she added.

Daniel agreed that the two were related, saying, “When my sleep schedule is off, I’m often anxious about class work, since I don’t have time or energy to get it done.”

It can seem like an endless cycle. At Wellness Coaching, Reynolds focuses on finding a first step that can help students move forward. This may be anything from mindfulness to a new exercise routine.

“You have to go at it from both aspects—improving the sleep and reducing anxiety,” Reynolds explained.

All aspects of health are related, which Wellness Coaching illustrates through a “Resilience Pyramid” graphic. The bottom building blocks of the pyramid are eating well, “balancing substance use,” moving your body, and getting good sleep. All of these elements are essential for building up personal health and moving up to higher goals on the pyramid such as connecting with others and adopting a growth mindset.

In a first visit with Wellness Coaching, students typically assess their own strengths and challenges on the pyramid. They can then start finding solutions. Wellness Coaching is currently available virtually at no cost for all Ithaca College students. Reynolds encourages students to reach out, even if they only need assistance for one session. (Email healthpromotion@ithaca.edu for more information.)

Reynolds said there are several first steps that a student can take today to getting their sleep cycle back on track. For example, she said, take the time to go for a walk outside, allow yourself breaks between classes, and stay connected with the important people in your life. Be mindful of activities that may be disrupting your sleep cycle, such as upsetting media, substance use, and long naps, Reynolds advised. She also recommends establishing a nightly wind-down routine, a period of 30 to 60 minutes before bed when you shut off your devices and do something quiet like stretching or listening to a podcast.

As the semester nears an end, Daniel is feeling hopeful. With three of his five classes now meeting in person, he’s having less difficulty separating work and leisure environments. He’s also monitoring his afternoon habits, trying to avoid  too-long naps. Daniel’s latest report: the sleep cycle is getting back on track.

—By Lorelei Horrell

Lorelei Horrell, an intern at The Sophie Fund, is a second year Ithaca College student with a Writing major and double minor in Sociology and English.

Fighting Sexual Assault on Campus

Sexual harassment and assault are worldwide problems. IC Strike is an Ithaca College student organization formed in 2019 and dedicated to education, action, and allyship surrounding sexual assault. We believe it is our duty to inform the Ithaca community because sexual assault and violence is, more often than not, swept under the rug.

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), every 73 seconds an American is sexually assaulted, meaning you regularly interreact with survivors of sexual assault every day.

There are differences in direct and indirect sexual assault prevention. The opportunity to distract people involved in a dangerous situation can be a safer way to provide a friend or a stranger a way out of an uncomfortable encounter. Asking directly or getting help from a figure of authority like a Resident Assistant, campus safety officer, or calling 911 can also save people from potentially traumatic situations.

Additionally, it’s important to create safe spaces to talk about uncomfortable situations. This can help individuals so that they don’t have to take on the big issues alone by helping to create safety and support networks for those that need them. Of course, education is at the core of sexual assault prevention. Education helps to create a safe space where conversations can be held about traditionally taboo topics such as consent and sexual violence.

April 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. There are many campaigns, some with different themes, designed to share information around sexual assault awareness and prevention. These campaigns stem from historical and intersectional branches of activism that continue to show how anyone can be affected by this issue.

IC Strike partnered with The Sophie Fund and the Advocacy Center of Tompkins County to launch an education campaign on social media during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. We are trying to reach as many people as possible to educate them on our core issues.

IC Strike was created as a response to our founder’s experiences navigating the legal and health systems following a assault. Like her, many of our members seek validation and answers to questions surrounding their own experiences. As an organization, we strive to fulfill the needs of survivors and to educate our community to prevent the same trauma from occurring to others.

These issues of sexual violence affect everyone, and we believe that facilitating a safe and respectful space for learning and navigating tough conversations within a college community leads to personal growth and social progress. 

IC Strike adamantly believes in the power of education and communication. Our society struggles to have conversations about sex, trauma, and sexual violence. In breaking the social stigma surrounding these topics, people are able to learn more about themselves and the society they live in. The social gag rule on sexual assault fosters ignorance and perpetuates harmful behavior and values. By equipping students with the facts and the vocabulary to discuss these issues, productive conversations can be had and stigmas can be broken.

By Carmen Enge, Lindsay Sayer, and Julia Siegal

Carmen Enge, Lindsay Sayer, and Julia Siegal are students at Ithaca College and serve, respectively, as treasurer and co-presidents of IC Strike

READ: Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Connect with Sexual Assault Awareness Month!

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness about the impacts of all forms of sexual violence on survivors and the community while also highlighting the work being done to promote healthy development and practices that work towards preventing these forms of violence from occurring. The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County is offering a variety of events in April to promote sexual assault awareness.

Roll Red Roll Film Screening Thursday April 15

Tompkins County teens are encouraged to join the Advocacy Center for a Netflix Watch Party and post-screening discussion of the film Roll Red Roll. Hosted by its student activism group, ACTion, the event will explore how social media and sports culture can influence sexual violence, as well as how students can challenge toxic social norms that perpetuate rape culture. To register for the screening, please fill out the following form: https://bit.ly/2OAGpJV

Wen-Do Women’s Self Defense Online Workshop April 19 & 20

The Advocacy Center invites college-enrolled women to participate in this four-hour self-defense program offered by the longest running women’s self-defense organization in Canada. This program will run over two sessions and includes frank discussions about violence against women and children along with verbal and physical resistance strategies. This program recognizes and celebrates our diversity, feminist principles, the empowerment of women and children while expressly rejecting victim blaming so often present in society. Follow the Advocacy Center on social media for more details and registration information.

Mighty Yoga Donation Class April 24

Join Mighty Yoga for a smoothly paced vinyasa flow experience. Donations raised through this yoga session will support survivors of sexual assault, as well as preventative education efforts led by the Advocacy Center. To sign up, please visit https://www.mightyyoga.com/livestream-schedule and select April 24 on the calendar. Then click on the “Sign Up” button next to the 1 p.m. donation class. *If you do not have an existing Mighty Yoga account, you will need to create one in order to register for the session.

Denim Day April 28

Wear jeans to raise awareness about the misconceptions that surround sexual assault! Started after an Italian Supreme Court ruling in which a rape conviction was overturned because the victim had been wearing tight jeans: the justices ruled that she must have helped her rapist remove them, thereby implying consent. For denim day materials visit www.denimdayinfo.org and follow the Advocacy Center on Facebook and Instagram for info and updates. Use #ACdenimday2021 so the Advocacy Center can follow your posts!

Clothesline Project Display DeWitt Park April 30 12-1pm

The Advocacy Center is excited to offer a socially distanced opportunity to see this powerful display in person. The project provides a space for domestic and sexual violence survivors to create and unapologetically display the “dirty laundry” that is abuse. The t-shirts, which contain powerful stories, images, and artwork, are hung on a clothesline to show that the people who experience domestic, sexual, or emotional violence aren’t just statistics but people in our communities and neighborhoods. *Social distancing and masks required

Take Back The Night! April 30

March. Rally. Speak Out. Vigil. Keep an eye out for social media posts and website updates as the Advocacy Center plans the 2021 virtual event! Participants are encouraged to join any way that feels comfortable. Marchers are encouraged to make signs, banners or wear clothes that highlight groups and organizations standing in solidarity with survivors or with messages of protest against domestic and sexual violence.