Settling into Plainview for a Third Year

Well, school is finally back into full swing! It's looking like it will be a very busy semester for me, so getting good sleep will be paramount for my success.

As of right now I am getting about nine hours of sleep every night or more, but I feel that my quality of sleep has not been very good. I wake frequently, for various reasons. I think the mostly likely cause of this is the huge change in environment.

I spent the summer at home in Southlake, TX where I stayed in my childhood room most nights. Back home my room is cool, dark, and is equipped with a roomy queen size bed. That particular bed is the best bed I've ever slept on; more because of how long I've slept on it than its quality. I almost always get a goodnight's sleep in that room. Now that I'm back in Plainview I don't have all of the same amenities that I had gotten used to.

In my dormitory, Caprock hall, I can keep the temperature cool by cranking up the A/C, and I have kept out the light by hanging up a blackout curtain over the window. However, all of the rooms are equipped with twin XL mattresses. That is the major factor that I can't change. Now, the twin XLs are the same length as a queen mattress, but the width is almost cut in half (36in. vs. 60in.). I think this difference is one of the main causes of my sleepless nights. I used to be able to stretch out and roll around undisturbed, but now I am confined in a 3ft. bed. I have been told I can be very active at night. If that is true, I have much less room to move around, causing my body to wake itself up more frequently every time I get close the edge of the bed.

I hope that eventually I will adapt to my new bed, but until then I will be using all of the tricks in the book to get a good nights sleep!

Cody