College Experience

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This is why I started waking up at 4am every day


 I transferred to Seattle University in January and I currently live in a town that’s about 30 miles away from my school. On average, the daily commute takes about 3-4 hours. That’s 20 hours per week spent on a train. I used to make fun of myself and say that my commute was my part-time job. Everyone was telling me that I was crazy and that I should move closer to my school. They were right, I mean who doesn’t want to be close to his school and friends. The reason why I didn’t move to Seattle yet is that I’m paying a cheap rent and have my own private space.

     With such exhausting commute, I found myself not getting enough sleep because I was struggling to stay up late hoping to get some work done. I wasn’t paying attention in my morning class and I was rushing all the time because I was worried that I would miss my train. This wasn’t the kind of lifestyle I signed up for when I decided to go to University! I sat down one day I thought to myself, I’m sure there’s something I could do better. There must be a solution for this long exhausting commute. After all, I’m a college student, my job is to solve problems. I suddenly had an aha moment and said: what if I start waking up at 4am! With that, I will have about 3 hours of extra time for myself to study, read, meditate and get early to school. That’s easier said than done. Now people will think I’m really crazy! 

     The first week of waking up at 4am was very challenging. I decided that I would force myself to jump out of bed and resist the urge to hit the snooze button and get back to sleep. I was determined to get up before the sunrise every day no matter what, even on weekends. I had also created a new set of morning rituals that helped me stick to this new habit. I start my morning by taking a shower, making my bed, and reading a book for about 20 minutes while drinking my coffee. Then I have about 2 hours to study and plan for the day and leave my house at 7:00. Those 2 hours are the most productive hours of my day. I also had to shift my bedtime to 9pm so I can get 7 hours of sleep which I think is enough for a 23-year-old college person. These morning routines made me more energetic and motivated. Of course, I’m a human and I’m not a perfectionist, sometimes I sleep in if I have some work that's due at late at night. Overall, I try to maintain a consistent sleeping schedule so that I won’t lose my new habit.

    Sometimes we have to stop complaining about our circumstances and focus on finding solutions for our problems even if this means you wake up at 4am. Wake every day with the determination that you are going to make a difference in this world, that you are bettering yourself by not sleeping in. Try it out for a few days and you will be surprised by how much it will change you.

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