For the Class of 2021 here at Vassar, it’s Senior Spring. While for many that means staying in the same room or pair of pants for weeks at a time and only interacting with friends over Zoom, others are trying to make the most of their last semester of college. Whether that’s through challenging academic theses or taking time for themselves, seniors are really seizing the spring by the horns.
For example, one senior, AJ Bugg, recently made a daring decision: They set their alarm for 10:30 a.m.
“I knew it was ambitious going in, but I thought to myself ‘it’s now or never, AJ,’” said Bugg. “I didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t had a class before 1 in three years. I don’t know what the morning is like anymore. Did you know the sun is up at 10:30? I was shocked. Turns out it’s rising around 6:30 these days. Who knew.”
Bugg is not the only senior making life-altering choices here in their last semester. Senior Adrianna Vargo recently fell asleep at 11 p.m. Vargo commented: “It’s not even like I passed out watching Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure after not sleeping for three nights and then woke up in a cold sweat at 4 a.m. I consciously put my laptop away at 10:30, even read a chapter of a dusty novel I found under my bed, and was out at 11. I woke up 12 hours later feeling dehydrated but well rested.”
Vargo said that the experience gives her hope for the future. “It makes me think that maybe one day, I’ll go to sleep at 11 more consistently and wake up better rested. If I’ve done it once, I can do it again.”
Bugg also plans to attempt their feat of getting up at 10:30 a.m. again. “I don’t know how often I’ll be able to accomplish it, but it does make me wonder: what is the rest of the morning like? Could I get up at 10—or maybe even 9 a.m.?” Bugg mused, “I think 8 is still too far of a stretch, and I don’t even know if I want to get up that early honestly, but I could try 9 or 9:30 on for size one of these days.”
When told about Bugg’s 10:30 a.m. wake up, Vargo seemed cool with the idea of getting up early. “I know I’m not a morning person, and I don’t need to be. I just want to feel rested when I get up, and falling asleep at 11 did that for me.”
While Bugg and Vargo made major lifestyle changes with their bedtime habits, Senior Carter Bowles also stepped far, far outside his comfort zone.“I ate a vegetable. From the Deece,” Bowles whispered.
When pressed for comment, he stated, “That’s all I feel comfortable sharing at this moment.”