Tanika Mally

Arts & Review Editor

As a young child, I hated naps. “Nap time” meant missing out on engaging in typical activities for kids- like playing soccer with the other kids in the neighborhood, or watching Curious George on the PBS channel. My mother would always try and convince me to sleep for half an hour in the afternoons, educating me on the benefits of extra sleep, but I never listened. After all, why would I need to sleep to get more energy when I already have enough to last me through the entire night? This mentality stuck with me for quite a while, and it wasn’t until the new school year started again during the pandemic that I realized just what I was missing out on. 

Attending school virtually drained me more than I had expected, both physically and mentally. Everyday after school I was incredibly exhausted. With the piles of assignments that always seemed to be stacking up higher and higher, the never-ending roll out of tests and quizzes every week, and never actually leaving my room (much less my house), my entire life seemed to be consumed with school and grades–and to top it all off, my self-care deteriorated.

It was sickening, to say the least. My head seemed to be buzzing with bees 24/7, my heart as heavy as stone, and my appetite had decreased alarmingly.  One day, I had accidentally fallen asleep while studying for a math test. About forty-five minutes had passed when I woke up, and to my surprise, I felt much better than I had in months. It felt as though I had drunk a cold glass of water on a hot summer day, or was standing under the rain on a stormy spring night. For the first time in a long time, I felt refreshed. 

At first, I thought it was a coincidence. There was no way that a nap could’ve possibly given me all that energy, right? However, after a series of increasingly long naps, the results were much too consistent to be a coincidence. Each and every time, I felt exceedingly better and lighter, and that’s when I knew that napping actually works!

Now, napping has become a permanent part of my daily routine. At least twice a week after school, I would shut off my laptop, bundle myself in blankets, and set a timer for half an hour, falling asleep to the whimsical music of Joe Hisaishi’s One Summer’s Day from the movie Spirited Away. After that, I would wake up and prepare myself to head into battle with my school work, feeling healthier than ever before. Now, knowing that a little break can sometimes make the biggest differences.