You are getting home at 2:30 a.m. on a school night after finishing another night shift at your server job. In just over three hours you have to be up at 5:45 a.m. to beat the 710 traffic and make it on time to your 7:55 a.m. class.
An hour into that morning class, your eyes begin to get heavy and you feel yourself dozing off. Struggling to stay awake, you take advantage of the 20 minute break in class to grab a coffee downstairs at the E Quad, just to find out they don’t take cash. Like many servers, most of the money you carry comes from tips.
You drag yourself through the rest of class without caffeine and by 11 a.m., class is finally over. Exhausted, you decide to take a nap in your car across campus. Only to sleep through your alarm and miss the first 30 minutes of your 12:45 p.m. class.
Rushing to your seat, you begin to wonder: Why does my neck hurt?
Between long commutes, early morning classes and late-night study sessions, sleep has become a scarce resource for many LBCC students.
In a campus culture fueled by caffeine, naps in cars, in library corners, and the occasional dosing off in class, allowing students to have a place where they can catch up on a few extra minutes of sleep could make a meaningful difference.
A nap pod can be a beneficial investment by the school that’ll allow students to take a quick safe nap, improving student’s health and academic performance.
Sleeping pods, also known as nap pods, are enclosed structures designed for a brief restorative nap in high demanding environments. Commonly found in airports, hospitals and some universities, they create a safe rest space where users can recharge and return to class more alert and focused.
Common designs for sleeping pods have a zero gravity position, private covers, built-in timers and calming audio or lighting and vibrations, designed to help ensure users rest without oversleeping.
Universities throughout the Los Angeles area have already implemented sleeping pods on their campuses. Community colleges are jumping on the trend such as Glendale Community College who understands the need for shut-eye.
While the idea may initially sound unnecessary or even excessive, sleep deprivation directly affects students’ ability to succeed academically. Lack of sleep impacts focus, memory retention, participation and test performance. A student cannot perform at their best academically while constantly running on exhaustion.
Research on the effects of sleep deprivation on physical and mental health continues to show that sleep deprivation can negatively affect a person’s mental health as it is commonly associated with irritability, increased stress and impaired cognitive functioning.
A nap as low as 30 minutes in the afternoon can enhance cognitive performance without harming night sleep and a moderately longer one can support brain health and mood, according to a study on napping and it’s effects.
Sleeping pods would not solve every issue students face, but they could offer an alternative to the reality that many students already experience. On an open campus where students have already expressed concerns surrounding theft and safety, sleeping pods could provide a safer, cleaner and more appropriate space for students needing short periods of rest throughout the day.
Sleeping pods can vary a lot in price depending on how advanced they are. For a college setting, considering most range from about $3,000 to $15,000 per pod, critics may argue that it’s an unnecessary expense.
While it may sound costly, the school would not need to install an entire campus full of them overnight. Even a small pilot program could provide meaningful support for exhausted students while allowing the school to evaluate the effectiveness before expanding further.
If our school is serious about its commitment to empowering our student body, investing in sleeping pods should be part of the conversation.
Community college students are often stigmatized as undeserving of the same resources, comforts and opportunities commonly associated with four-year universities. As such, student wellness and comfort should not be treated as a luxury rather than as a legitimate support system.
LBCC is a commuter campus where, aside from long drives home, many students balance a full course load and multiple jobs. These students face many of the same academic and personal pressures as university students, while often having fewer resources and less time to recover from burnout.
Long Beach City College has shown to be committed to taking students’ mental health seriously, through counseling services, wellness programs and zen nooks tucked away in the far back of the library. Sleep should not be treated differently simply because it is less visible than other struggles students face.
As conversations about student mental health and well-being continue to grow, it’s worth reflecting on what students may need most.
It’s just as simple, students need a place to sleep, and sleeping pods may be the answer.
Sometimes students do not need another cup of coffee, they need rest.
