excerpt from The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide

“The major stress I experienced after college involved this feeling of, ‘Oh my God, now I’m actually supposed to do something with my life! What the hell do I want to do?’” says Ricardo, a twenty-six-year old from Los Angeles. “I continue to feel scared because of an overwhelming need to come up with some sort of plan for affecting the world. I enjoy my job, make a fair amount of money, and have a lot of friends in the city, but there’s a constant pressure that I should be doing more, doing a better job of living up to the promise of my college education. I feel I should be leading mass social movements, changing the world, or at least using my mind to push forward truth, beauty, and happiness. There’s a sense that a nine-to-five job is a bit of a disappointment. To whom? My parents? College? Myself, I guess. I think the major stress after college for the highly educated is that we feel like we’re suddenly done with the dress rehearsal. Now we’re supposed to use everything we’ve learned and do ‘amazing’ things. It’s often hard to figure out even how to begin.”

excerpt from The Smart Student's Guide to Healthy Living

After a long day of classes, the late shift at work, or just experiencing the mayhem of your dorm hallway, you retreat to the quiet sanctuary of your room. As you climb into your bed, wrap yourself in the sheets and attempt to fall asleep, you suddenly remember that you have a biology quiz tomorrow and you haven’t opened the book yet. As you climb out of bed, you tell yourself, “Missing and hour of sleep won’t kill me,” and you study longer. You nail the quiz and feel fine. But as those nights of short sleep become the norm rather than an occasional thing, you begin to see the effects. You begin to feel drained and tired all day. Of course, there will be nights when you will sleep less, whether it is after a big concert or when you’re studying for finals. But chronic sleep loss adds up to being more than tired and grouchy. Lost sleep can cause problems like these: