After a long day of school and homework, it’s time to unwind and go to sleep. You’d think that after a day of looking at our laptops, we’d want to unwind and read a book or journal – but no. In fact, about 90% of 18-29 year olds sleep with their phones near them, while 95% of people use their phone just before going to bed. I used to be one of those people.

By: Natalie Oganesyan ‘22

Let me paint a familiar picture. It’s midterm season and you’re spending all your available hours and sanity on studying. You’re stressed beyond belief, but in a week or two the worst will be over. That is, until you get hit with the common cold. Or something in your personal life goes horribly wrong. Or you realize you spread yourself way too thin. Your first thought is “Are you kidding me?” and it’s closely followed by “That’s just my luck.” But I’m here to tell you that it’s not the end of the world. Even if you feel like death now, and everything feels like it’s coming crashing down, here are a couple things you can do to give yourself a break and push through this trying time:

By: Sophia Pei ‘22

We’ve all heard how sleep deprivation can cause short-term consequences like poor judgement, weakened immune system, and poor concentration and is also correlated with detrimental long-term effects like heart disease and neurological degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately in an age of instant gratification and ever more invasive technology, maintaining healthy sleep habits is becoming more difficult. Sleep difficulty has been cited as the leading factors affecting USC students’ academic performance (along with stress and anxiety which also cause further lack of sleep, leading to an awful positive feedback cycle). As a diagnosed insomniac, I’m definitely guilty of not getting as much sleep as my body needs. The following are some tips that have helped me obtain a more consistent, healthy sleep schedule.

By: Judy Lee ‘17

Sleep is a love-hate relationship for a lot of people–especially college students. Whether it’s that quick nap in your dorm before class starts freshman year or…that quick nap in your car before class starts senior year, sleep is a necessity for everyone. Now, being the quintessential college student in that I average maybe 4-6 good hours of sleep a night, I decided that perhaps I should work on that seeing as I’ll have to adult sooner or later. Hence, I downloaded Sleep Cycle:

By: Judy Lee ‘17

1. Breathing exercises: sometimes, the anxiety you feel may just be how fast your heart is beating. The simple solution, of course, is to slow it down by breathing slowly. Count to 5 as you inhale and exhale…

By: AnnaLiese Burich ‘17

It’s that time of year again: the holidays! You know Halloween, and Thanksgiving and Christmas, but did you know the greatest holiday of them all? Course registration!