CMU students don't mind 8 a.m. classes as preparation for 'real world'
While some students avoid Friday classes and ones that begin before the sun is up, others are forced to bear with these unpopular class times.
Grand Blanc freshman Alexis Jones is one student whose day begins earlier than others.
“To most kids, getting up at 8 a.m. is early, but I’ve always been a morning person,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how late I stay up (the night before) because I’ll be wide awake at about 7 a.m.”
Jones said while she doesn’t mind 8 a.m. classes, she would prefer to have class in the afternoon for a more sociable experience.
“I prefer afternoon classes because by then everyone is awake and talkative, and I think I follow the material better,” she said. “Having a class early is rough on a lot of my classmates because when I get there, everyone is usually exhausted and quiet.”
Grand Haven senior Lauren Showers said there are pros and cons to having an 8 a.m. class.
“I enjoy getting my day done earlier,” she said. “However, I can’t stay out late and I end up going to bed early.”
It isn’t just students who have to deal with early classes. Education professor Joseph Rivard said it isn’t so much about the time classes start but about the amount of sleep students get the night before that determines how tired they are in class.
“Between the ages of 8 and 28, the brain requires at least eight hours of sleep,” he said. “Eight hours of sleep gives students maximum efficiency.”
Rivard said he thinks 8 a.m. classes are a good thing for students, as it not only allows them more time to get class over with earlier, leaving more time for social settings, but also helps prepare them for their transition to the real world.
“Students are going to spend the rest of their life getting up early,” he said. “When a teacher education student says to me they have a hard time making an 8 a.m. class, I think they will be getting up way earlier than 8 a.m. (when getting teaching jobs in the real world).”
Junior Derick Steinard does not mind early classes.
“I think 8 a.m. classes seem bad in the moment when you are getting up and regretting staying up as late as you did the night before, but in reality, they are not that bad,” the Rochester native said. “It gets your day going earlier so you are not tempted to lay in bed and waste some of the day away.”
Steinard said another reason he doesn’t mind earlier classes is because he gets the best parking spot in the commuter lot.
“It will be especially great in the winter when it’s freezing outside or if I’m running late to class,” he said. “I know the whole front row will be available.”
