As third-year College student Lauren Rylander arrives back to her dorm at 6 Monday morning, she can barely walk or think straight. Fresh off a 12-hour shift as an emergency medical technician for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad, the only way for Rylander to combat the sleep deprivation is by taking a warm shower. She then assembles her daytime outfit, packs her backpack and heads off for a day in academia on Grounds.
In these moments, the most important thing to Rylander is that she keeps her focus on the school day ahead. For her, this means separating her EMT shift from her student life and making sure to never “carry the call into class.”
Like Rylander, many students at the University face the routine challenges of balancing their responsibilities as night shift workers with their regular lives during waking hours. Whether they are an EMT, a certified nursing assistant or a Resident Advisor, these individuals are not only responsible for keeping up with sleep, but also managing their school work, social lives, extracurriculars and personal health…