In August I joked with our men’s soccer team that I could have gotten into Harvard if I had slept for 8 hours each night during high school. I was only half-joking: I probably wouldn’t have gotten into Harvard, but my high school GPA would have been significantly higher.
In high school I slept 5-6 hours each night; my GPA was a B or B-minus.
My freshman year of college I slept 7 hours each night; my GPA was a B+.
My sophomore-senior years of college I slept 8-9 hours each night; my GPA was an A.
My GPA improved because I slept more each night, not because I was up all night worrying about my GPA. This passage in Tribe of Mentors from Brene Brown sums up my thoughts:
“Diet, exercise, and work ethic don’t hold a candle to how sleep can revolutionize the way you live, love, parent, and lead.”