#and now the rest of my project suffered quality-wise due to lack of time

[uncensored-alchemy]

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[satoshi-mochida]

Tobyfox has provided a status update on the second chapter and beyond of Undertale sequel Deltarune in celebration of Undertale‘s fifth anniversary today.

First, here are the latest screenshots from Deltarune‘s second chapter:

Get the full update below.

Introduction

Hi everyone.

If you’re reading this, you must have been sticking around for about five years.*

I want to express my gratitude for everyone that has supported and encouraged me over this time.

Thank you.

I’ve said it many many times before, but I didn’t expect the simple game I made to receive so much attention. Because of that, many interesting things have happened, and now I can even spend my time making another game.

It seems both of us received a lot of happiness from this occurrence.

If it’s okay, I would like to keep striving to do things that make both of us happy.

Let me know what you think about that.

*Since the Undertale demo released in 2013, the game has really existed for 7 years. It’s already been more than 25% of my life…

Deltarune

I will make another.

I am making a game called “Deltarune.” It is the second game in the Undertale series.

The game will be released in many “Chapters,” the first of which I released two years ago on Halloween. Since that time, I’ve been working hard to figure out the rest of the game.

However, it’s a game that’s much harder to make than Undertale.

Graphics are more complicated and several times more involved.

Systems are more complicated.

Exposes the weak points of my creative and artistic ability.

Plot is much harder to tie together (more characters, more important locations).

Significantly more content than Undertale in one playthrough (especially cutscenes).

I have only made one game ever.

Unlike Undertale, this is the type of game that would normally have many designers working on each aspect of the game.

A story writer, a composer, an audio director, a map designer, a battle designer, a minigame designer, and an overall director. Instead, all of those roles end up handled by me.

The good news is that a few months ago, I completed a significant milestone regarding the game’s design. I completed readable outlines for every chapter in the game, including first-pass dialogue for almost all the cutscenes, examples of the music, etc.

Although certain details are still hazy, the flow of the game and all major events and battles that take place are now clear.

In summary, I largely spent the past two years writing, composing, designing, and drawing. However, that’s not the whole story.

We had actually attempted to develop the game since the time too. Development started around March 2019 and a 99% work was spent on investigating engines alternate to GameMaker, which I used for Chapter 1.

Without getting into the details, I decided a few months ago to go back to GameMaker after all. It still felt like the best fit for the project. So using Chapter 1 as a base, we’ve started creating Chapter 2 since May 2020.

A lot of progress has been made since that time. I believe we can complete this chapter, content-wise, before the end of the year (not accounting for translation, bugtesting, and porting).

I feel very confident. And the strange thing is, even though we ended up using the original engine, I don’t regret the lost time, either. Not only was I still busy designing the game, but during that long period, I was able to think of many ideas that make the game’s story and characters better.

I’m glad that I’m making the Deltarune that I have now and that we are making healthy progress.

Deltarune Status Estimate

■ Chapter 2 (04.15.20 – 08.13.20)

Phase 1: Design

Main Design: 100% (dialogue, etc.)

Initial Setup: 100% (stuff involved setting up people to make the game, adding debug tools, documentation, etc.)

Phase 2: Implementation (05.01.20 ~ 08.13.20)

Art: 90%

Cutscenes: 80% (90% are started, needs 2nd pass)

Bullet Patterns: 70% (enemies are mostly completed, bosses are about 40% done, needs 2nd pass)

Non-Bullet Battle Elements: 30% (Some ACTs are done and enemies are fightable, but interactive ACTs need to be completed and polished and the bosses aren’t programmed outside of bullet patterns)

Audio: 80%

Maps: ??% most are started or placeholder, most need 2nd pass. NPC interactions are completed in all spots where written.

Other: 65%

Phase 3: Finishing

Balancing: 0%

Bugfixing: 0%

Translation: 0%

Porting: 0%

(Honestly, a lot of stuff FEELS like 80% to me, but the truth is that what’s there is quite rough now. Polish ends up taking a lot of time, so the real actual time value may be around 50% done…? We’ll see what happens. It’ll be a lesson for everybody.)

■ Chapters 3 and Beyond

Phase 1: Design

Story and General Game Progression (first-pass): 100%

Cutscene Dialogue (first-pass, lacking cutscene instructions): 95%

Map Design (textual): 70% (varies per chapter, earlier chapters totally completed)

Map Design (drawn): 0% (this takes a lot of wrist energy so I don’t do it until we start programming)

Enemy Design (conceptual): 90% (all bosses are known)

Enemy Design (bullets / visual): 80% (varies per chapter, earlier chapters totally completed)

Music (concept): 95%

Music (completed): 50%

Visual Design:BG Concept (first-pass): 75%, Important Character, Bosses (first-pass): 100%

Phase 2

Sprite Art: 20%?

Other Content Creation: 0%

Phase 3

Release Readiness: 0%

(These numbers can be somewhat deceptive though. My true design style is to reach the moment where we have to make something, then suddenly think of something different at the last minute. This is always how it’s been with me and my work. It feels like no matter how much I plan, everything comes down to what I think of at the last second…)

Team and Disability

You may have noticed from my phrasing, but yes, there is a team helping me create the game. Other than me, there are about three active team members working day-to-day, with a few other people pitching in from time to time.

Their roles of the main members are overall content implementation and organization, bullet pattern implementation (part-time), and art (Temmie). Other than designing, I still have the role of system programmer.

I’m extremely grateful to have a team helping me carry out my design especially because of my disabilities, which have also made development more difficult.

Although I have long suffered from wrist and hand pain, about five months ago my wrist was the worst it’s ever been. I could not play the piano, use the mouse, and barely could use the keyboard. I navigated everything through voice to text.

Through weightlifting, exercise, and various equipment I have been able to somewhat increase the stamina of my wrist to an extent. Various solutions have included trackball mice for each hand, using voice to text whenever possible, using a foot pedal to click the mouse, etc.

Now I can use the mouse and keyboard for a certain amount each day provided I take frequent breaks. I wish I could work without stopping. Once the world situation improves I would really like to take physical therapy again and/or investigate surgery to repair my wrist.

Future Plans

Once we finish Chapter 2, I would like to use it as the base to create future chapters from. After gaining experience from this chapter, I think making future chapters will be easier.

Part of me wonders if we could make the game faster if we increased the size of the team and did something insane like create multiple chapters in parallel. However, another part of me understands that, adding more people doesn’t guarantee that the game will be created faster if it’s not done properly. I’m already just barely avoiding becoming a bottleneck on development even with a team of this size, due to my physical limitations.

To that end, I am interested in making a list of people that could potentially help me make the game. I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to ask anyone to help, but I think if I could find just 1 person that works well with me, it’s worth asking.

Chapter 2 is proceeding at a good pace, so if we do take anyone on, it will probably only be for Chapter 3 onward. So please understand that anything you send in may not have an immediate result.

People I Am Looking For

Feel free to send in your portfolio if you have the following qualifications:

Worked in the game industry before

Worked under NDA before

Have professional references

A degree of creativity while also being okay with just following directions

Fluent in English

People I Might Actually Use

Music Transcription / Basic Arrangement (Part-Time)

I usually start making songs by playing the piano and singing. An important step after this is to take this basic outline and transcribe it into melodies and chords. Though there are not too many remaining songs to transcribe, it would still help my wrist to have someone else start this process for me. Although I know many musicians, I’m sheepish to ask for help to them, because the main role is actually just to help me compose my own music…

Helpful qualities:

Good at transcription.

Can stand listening to me sing.

Optional: can use an old version of Fruity Loops.

Bullet Pattern Programming (Part-Time)

I’m looking for someone to help me program bullet patterns into the game. These people will work from text and visual designs to create fun battles that match the feeling of the game. I already have one person helping with this, but I think a second person would help a lot. You have to be able to use Gamemaker Studio 2 to manipulate objects on the screen / okay with using pre-existing scripts to accomplish this.

Helpful qualities:

Sense of fun and understanding of player perspective and gameplay balance. This aspect is [many times] more important than programming ability.

Reliable.

Able to make patterns based off of visual/text instructions.

Fine working with a poorly made battle system.

Able to sprite bullets.

Good visual / timing sense.

Minigame Programming (Part-Time)

There are a few minigames and small interactive events in the game, which appear in and outside of battles. These could take any kind of form… who knows what I’m thinking! Have you made a game before?

Helpful qualities:

Same sense of humor as me.

Some level of spriting ability is useful.

You have to have made a game that is fun.

Ability to work together with me.

Unlikely to Hire, But Send Me Your Information Just In Case

Cutscene Programming (Part-Time)

Besides the battles, the largest amount of content in the game is definitely the cut scenes. You will have to understand Gamemaker Studio 2, but the majority of the work is simply using a scripting system that I created to make characters move around the screen. The most important quality you can have here is not programming ability but the ability to efficiently use the system in order to create scenes with a good sense of humor, timing, and emotion.

I’d strongly prefer to hire someone I know to do this because it involves the story. So I most likely won’t hire anyone else.

Helpful qualities:

Can take text instructions and impart a proper sense of timing, humor, and weight to them.

Fine working with a custom scripting system (or smart enough to make something better that makes the game easier to make).

Art (Part-Time)

Sprite art—Temmie has already drawn a massive amount of art for the game, and continues to do so. And I actually already have a few other artists that have helped me that I’m more than happy to keep working with if things become more overwhelming. So currently I actually don’t need any more artists.

However, personally, I’d really like to build up a portfolio of available pixel artists and even concept artists. It’s not as if this is the only game I will make during my life. Anyone chosen for this game needs to be able to match the style of the game, but I’m interested in seeing people with different styles as well. Knowing that I have different options can open my mind up to different creative pathways.

Helpful qualities:

Can take bad looking sketches and turn them into art that looks good (magic).

Don’t mind if your work gets completely drawn over or thrown out.

Anyone that can draw cute or cool poses is good.

Uninterested in seeing people that have an art style outside of the scope of the game.

Write (Full-Time)

Someone needs to transform into a new wrist for me.

Helpful qualities:

Flexible.

Doesn’t hurt.

Musical sense.

That’s everyone I’m looking for. The only other kind of person I might hire would be a single jack-of-all-trades type that can do any sort of things such as cutscenes, bullets, or even system programming, with a good degree of visual flair. (But if you can do those sorts of things, aren’t you busy making your own game already!?)

Anyway, I’ll show you the e-mail now. Just make sure you read these rules first:

Don’t send in e-mails about anything else!

Don’t send to other team members, Fangamer, etc. about helping out!

Got it? Then please send your information to this e-mail address:

deltarunejobs@fangamer.com

Since Fangamer will be sorting through the e-mails for me, we’ll stop taking e-mails at the end of September so they don’t get overwhelmed. Ultimately, I’m only looking for one or two people, and to make a list of the rest of the potentially helpful people in the world.

Undertale is available now for PlayStation 4, Switch, PS Vita, and PC via Steam and GOG. Deltarune Chapter 1 is availble for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Deltarune.com.

[thediscogprofile-blog]

Before going into the material recorded with Karma, there are a few distinctions to make. After doing some research into how the music of Altamont and the music of Karma was created, there are a few differences. The first is that while Altamont was a duo, Karma was a quartet (consisting of Wilson and three classmates). Another difference was that in the case of Altamont, “the music was improvised live onto cassette using primitive analog synthesizers and a home made echo machine.”

However, there is one similarity between them: both have some history of actively-suppressed distribution by Steven Wilson himself. In the example of Altamont, Steven actually asked the label to delete all copies of the cassette tapes for Prayer for the Soul and the only reason anyone can listen to it on YouTube now is because promotional copies had been in circulation for some point after it. In the case of Karma, it’s due to live recordings from that era having only one copy in existence—owned by Steven Wilson himself, who’s probably content with them never seeing the light of day.

This excerpt from an interview of Steven Wilson from around 2013 is particularly relevant:

“Karma was what you would now call a neo-progressive rock band. When I was a 14-year-old-kid, I discovered Marillion. They were local lads. I could go see them play in local venues and loved it. A few of us 14-year-olds started this band which sounded a bit like the bands we liked from our big brothers’ record collections. It was a step in the learning process.”

This youthful discovery of Marillion while they were a local band is a case of a young Steven is indicative of the trains of influence towards various eras of music that has cast a shadow on Steven’s entire career. Indeed, one complaint of Steven Wilson’s music is that it is derivative of others, but this can be countered by saying that influence is so inescapable that there is no such thing as being truly original—only a semblance of originality, something that I think Steven excels at in his mature period. Continuing with the quote, to say that “A few of us 14-year-olds started this band which sounded a bit like the bands we liked from our big brothers’ record collections” entails that Karma was a pale imitation of a band like Marillion, but was ultimately missing something. That such a pale imitation was “a step in the learning process” indicates that the existence of bands like Karma and Altamont were necessary growing pains for the material Steven would later give us his various projects as an adult.

Another interview quote (during a question discussing Steven’s earliest bands) from around 2000 is relevant:

“First, there was a band called Paradox, another called Karma and then another one. The two tapes that we made by Karma (“The Joke’s on You” and “The Last Man to Laugh”) have become more well-known because they have early versions of songs I had later recorded for Porcupine Tree…they became kind of a curiosity to Porcupine Tree fans but I mean they’re not different, better or worse than any other 14-year-old kids demo tapes as far as I’m concerned.”

To pick this one apart, Paradox did exist but broke up before they could record anything. Steven’s mention of “then another one” is telling towards how he regards Altamont compared to how he regards Karma—the former isn’t even worth a namedrop, indicative of an embarrassment at the lack of quality of Prayer For The Soul. The mention of early versions of Porcupine Tree songs on the Karma tapes is true—“Small Fish” (Up the Downstair) and “Nine Cats” (On the Sunday of Life) would later be re-recorded. Steven’s closing remark of the Karma tapes as no different “than any other 14-year-old kids demo tapes” is one that can entail two things—that he holds Karma in a similar light to Altamont and that they’re only noteworthy in that they provide a curiosity that Altamont doesn’t.

               But enough about my conjecturing about the words of Steven Wilson regarding this era. The only way I can know for sure if Steven was right on this is by looking at the album itself.

·         “Intruder d’Or” (3:57)

From the first minute, the instrument levels are crisper than they were on the Altamont album. The bopping bassline, steady hi-hats of drums, revolving synthesizers, and use of both electric and acoustic guitar are evenly mixed. This song also has an abrupt tempo change around the two-minute mark, leading to a section which is faster than the rest of the song. Only to go back to the earlier rhythmic pattern for the finish.

This is more impressive than anything on Prayer For The Soul, but nothing to really write home about.

·         “Tigers In The Rain” (7:48)

Electric guitar announces its presence right out of the gate, soon greeted by synth and the rest of a hard-rock instrumentation. This continues until we get lyrics, which (thanks to demo-quality recording) are only partly discernable. After that, there’s a change in rhythm and then one back to the verse rhythm. After this, jagged hard-rock electric guitar comes back to make way for a synth solo. This is followed by a guitar solo demonstrating better acumen of the instrument from Steven than on Prayer For The Soul yet also exhibiting Steven’s gifts of restraint and making the most out of his limitations with the instrument. You won’t have Malmsteen/Satriani/Vai-tier shredding from Steven, but he’ll make any guitar solo appropriate to the song. It’s refreshing to hear that that was evident even at his earliest days. Then next part of the song is a verse using the same rhythm as those which backed the solos. This is followed by an outro where all sound drops out save for an acoustic guitar and the sloshing of water.

For something created by a bunch of 14-year-olds, this is a rather ambitious song only undermined by the limitations of the equipment used to record it.

·         “Small Fish” (4:51)

A heavy synth riff backed by the drums kicks this song off, only to segue into airier synths for the verse. These verses appear to be delivered in a monotone (voice-wise, it doesn’t sound like Steven at all). After the lyrics pass, there is a fuzz-toned guitar solo consisting of Gilmour-style sustains. After this, there is a synth solo and then a drum solo, during the latter of which the bass guitar also begins soloing. Over this, the sounds of crickets and frogs are audible just before the bass drops out. Just as the drum solo wraps up, the sounds of a goat plays out amongst that of the crickets as the song ends.

The increased focus on instrumentation and showing-off of what technical chops this group of 14-year-olds have is admirable. However, the version of this song that appears on Up The Downstair remains superior for reasons to be addressed in that review.

·         “Nine Cats” (14:33)

Piano opens this track and is soon joined by clean-toned guitar and icy synths for the first verse. To this note, the lyrics to this track are completely different from the version later recorded by Porcupine Tree. Mid-way through the verse, bass pops its head in. Soon, drums and electric guitar make their way in and a new rhythm develops—one that feels funk-like yet not.

This drops out and gives way to the verse-pattern, but some of the lyrics in this verse are of note: “I threw five clocks down on my bed/The chimes danced out on golden threads/And turned to footprints on my wall/Sequined tears began to fall.” These lyrics are notable because they were re-uesed for a later version of “Nine Cats” which appeared on Insignificance (a collection of b-sides and demos from the sessions for Porcupine Tree’s 1996 album Signify). This indicates that these songs continue to develop for Steven even after they’re recorded.

Back to the song, where the song returns (after the verse) to the rhythm which I described as funk-like yet not…only to morph into an instrumental section which starts with clean-toned guitar and synths, but is soon joined in by bass and a disco-beat drum part. Then, everything stops dead aside from guitar chords which fade in-and-out after being strummed. Over this, synth begins to play for a bit before the chords become clear and the rhythm section picks up. Then, everything be the drums die out before guitar feedback slowly comes in. Then, a set of synth triplets spark a new rhythm punctuated by drums and bass. After a while, there is a break of silence after which all the instruments (acoustic guitar, drums, bass, and synth) come in. Then, a chord progression is played on both electric guitar and synth while the snare punctuates each note. After a brief bit where there is just drums and bass, a hard-rock guitar solo starts while the drum rhythm becomes more complex. After this, the chord progression part plays again. Then, a brief respite before an arpeggio begins to play on the synth, which leads to another verse. This time, the lyrics are the first verse of the Porcupine Tree version. After this verse, an instrumental vamp builds on the verse’s rhythm for a while until the next set of lyrics ends. After which, a brief drum fill plays which leads to a melancholic-tinged folk rhythm over a synth solo. This is interspersed with a drum solo before the rhythm comes back and gradually fades out, with the synth being the last to go. After all the instruments are out of the picture, the sounds of meowing cats (but given a ghostly echo) are on a loop for around thirty seconds.

What truly sinks this version is that the instrumental sections go on for longer than necessary. Yes, Steven has been capable of writing excellent songs which extend well past the ten-minute mark. Each of those songs either has a structure or a flow that feels impeccable and doesn’t betray the song’s roots—it feels like a natural extension of the foundation. Because that isn’t the case with this version of “Nine Cats,” it suffers as a result.

·         Final Thoughts:

While this album is an improvement from the Altamont album, there are some shortcomings. One of which—the production quality—isn’t entirely the fault of the band (as there are economic circumstances surrounding that). Another shortcoming is one that isn’t as pronounced as it was in Prayer For The Soul, but the version of “Nine Cats” on here suffers from a disjointed flow (much like “Altamont” from Prayer For The Soul). This is not a good place to start, but it is also interesting to hear Steven’s humble beginnings.

[collegedoesntsleep-blog]

Importance of Sleep in College

Community Solution

“My eyes burned. I could hardly recall any information that I had spent all night memorizing. I knew the clock was ticking, but I couldn’t force myself to focus.  My lack of sleep had finally caught up to me.  It was the last day of my first college exam week, and my mind and body had hit the wall.  No amount of coffee or Red Bull could pull me out of the zombie state I had entered. Leading up to my final exam, I had pulled night after night of study sessions until 2 a.m., took brief naps, then woke up for 8 a.m. exams.  Sleep deprivation was affecting my ability to perform, and all of the hard work and studying I had prioritized over sleeping was now worthless” (Baltz).

Many college students have experienced the same thing that Baltz experienced, myself included.  For a few years I struggled managing my time wisely, and I didn’t want to miss out on anything, so I sacrificed sleep.  Not sleeping at night in turn put me back in school two years because I couldn’t focus in class, or just slept through it.  This is a major problem, and very much so can affect people in their lives. Research done by Lund shows only 30% of students get at least eight hours of sleep a night, 35% stay up till three in the morning at least once a week, and 20% stay up all night at least once a month during the weekdays.  Likewise, a total of 60% of college students suffer from disturbed sleep-wake patterns. Consequently, Stickgold discovered that only 40% of students feel they are well rested no more than two days per week.

In college, there is a saying that there are four things, school, work, social life, and sleep, and you can only choose three of them.  The question brought to mind is, which one do you chose? It is common knowledge that the majority of students normally sacrifice sleep the most, followed by school, then work and finally coming in last is social life. Because of that trend is becoming more and more the norm, students today sleep an average of two hours less per day than college students in the 1980s (Oelschlager).

This is a major issue in today’s universities and one that needs to be addressed.  Many students nowadays have started to substitute sleep with the mass amounts of caffeine that energy drinks provide, but is this healthy?  Is it even an effective, or do you still struggle to retain the knowledge learned? Do you not remember cause you’re tired and can’t focus, or because sleep has an actual effect on your mind's ability to retain information?

Along with all these important questions, it is also just as important to get the word out on how to get more sleep.  One of the biggest things is student’s need to learn and be taught how to manage their time more wisely to be able to get the most out of their day so they can enjoy all four areas of life.  For this cause I have been doing a lot of research throughout the semester on the effects that sleep has on retaining what you learn so that way I can better teach students on the true importance of it.  

In order to understand the importance of sleep, you need to first understand what sleep is.  Sleep consists of two basic states: rapid eye movement (REM), and non-rapid eye movement (NREM).  The REM cycle is where dreams occur.  The NREM consists of four stages, the first two being where you are falling deeper into sleep.  The third and fourth stages are where slow-wave sleep (SWS) occurs.  During this cycle the body rejuvenates itself, getting most important rest needed.  When the body fails to experience these cycles, it is known as rapid eye movement deprivation (REMD).

While some students claim that they “get enough sleep”, they tend to stay up late doing homework and then sleep in.  This is not as effective as the other way around, going to bed early and then waking up early to finish your homework.  Reason being sleeping during the first half of the night is more beneficial than the second. Barrett and Ekstrand showed memory recall is better in those who slept during the first half of the night compared to those who spent the same period awake.  The same benefit was not seen when sleep was in the second half of the night (Barrett, 317).  This is due to the role of slow-wave-sleep SWS, and the naturally occurring chemical processes of the brain in sleep during the first half of the night interacts with SWS to consolidate memories (Ekstrand).

While you are awake, your memories are played backwards to help the learning process. When you sleep, those same memories are played forward helping the consolidation process.  Within the sleep cycles complex processes of feedforward and feedback mechanisms between the hippocampus and the neocortex.  By repeatedly shuffling information back and forth it enhances memory consolidation (Ellenbogen, 719).  These studies show sleep is vital for memory consolidation.

As shown above there is a lot of science to back why it is so important to sleep.  It shows that sleep helps you more than to just concentrate, and if you don’t get sleep you can subsidize it with caffeine.  The data above shows that sleep actually helps move memory from the short term to your long-term memory.  One thing that I find interesting is the fact that sleep is more important in the first half of the night rather than the second half, showing us that staying up late is not good for our school work.  It shows that students benefit more from going to bed early, and waking up early to finish homework rather than the other way around, which most students do not currently do.

There are also other reasons why sleep is important other than helping us retain information that we have learned.  Taking care of our health is just as vital. “Sleep relaxes us and helps with the overall health of the central nervous system” (Oelschlager).  This is the reason why people who sleep too little seem a little drowsy and unable to concentrate the next day.  The scary part is not only does it affect your physical performance, as well as impairing your memory, it also can cause hallucinations, mood swings, and can lead to depression and even suicide (Oelschlager).

Many students sometimes want to sleep more, but find themselves not being able to sleep, for this purpose we must teach what type of things cause students to be unable to sleep.  Nicotine and alcohol are two of the main things that hinder sleep. Nicotine is a stimulant so therefore smoking creates difficulty falling asleep as well as you don’t get as good of a sleep.  Alcohol is a tricky one.  It does initially help people fall asleep, but the issue is the sleep is less effective because the brain is unable to go through the normal sleep cycles.  Which brings another point that assumption of alcohol may hard your ability to retain knowledge because you’re brains not consolidating the information even though you’re asleep.

Another phenomenon that is rampant throughout college these days is the consumption of caffeine.  In fact, studies have shown that “only 54% of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee every day” but that an astonishing “78% of college freshman consume above the recommended amount of caffeine per day” (Friedmann).  This amount of caffeine has it’s negative effects. Like alcohol and nicotine consumption, if you consume caffeine 3-6 hours before bedtime it can “double the time it takes to fall asleep, and quadruple the number of times a person wakes in the night.” (Oelschlager).  Interestingly enough, studies have shown that if you cut back on your caffeine consumption, you will actually feel more awake during the day because your sleep quality will improve (Friedmann).

Because of the importance of sleep, we must teach students methods on how to enhance sleep, as well as better ways to manage the rest of their time.  Here’s what Oelschlager suggest on what you can do: “Forgo regular exercise at bedtime. Finish eating a large meal a minimum of three hours before bed.  Have a set bedtime as well as sleep time.  Avoid caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants.  Try not to use your bedroom for activities other than sleep.  Create a bedroom environment that is comfortable for sleep.  Find a comfortable mattress and pillow.  Read a relaxing book or listen to soothing music.  If stressful thoughts or problems are on your mind, write them down.  If unable to sleep, get out of bed and engage in something interesting or productive until sleepy.  Avoid alcohol.  Learn relaxation techniques.  Accept sleep is just as important as exercise and nutrition.” (Oelschlager).

Not only do we need to teach about how to sleep better, but by helping students learn how to manage time better, it will help them be capable to get more sleep.  Johns Hopkins University has a perfect article for this and goes over all the different aspects of life, school, work, social life, sleep and many more. They do this because they claim, “Succeeding in graduate or medical school means more than simply doing well in your coursework.” (JHSAP).  They talk about how managing your time is vital to success not only in academics, but also in your professional career.  They list out specific ways to manage time well.  “Plan your schedule.  Make a weekly to-do list.  Prioritize your work.  Break large tasks into their smaller components.  Set goals and deadlines for projects.  Avoid perfectionism.  Honestly assess the amount of time you waste.” (JHSAP).

Stress is another area that student’s need to manage. Johns Hopkins claims that “stress keeps us focused and aware of all the things that need to be done … but when your stress level becomes more than a motivating tool … you may be in a stress overload.” (JHSAP).  One way to lessen stress is by striving to be a high achiever and not a perfectionist. It is always good to have high goals to push ourselves and make us better.  But perfection is unobtainable and will only lead to stress and failure.

           In the ending of the article written by Johns Hopkins they give a few tips on how to manage the demands of school, work, and family.  The first is to “be where you are”, which means don't worry about work when in class, as well as don’t let school interfere with quality family and friend time. Second, “set a schedule for the week and get organized”, to create it you need to experiment the best times and places to study, and plan other things around that.  Third, you need to “reward yourself.”  If you reward yourself for sticking to your schedule it will help you stay to it.  Fourth, “remember that you are only human”, you aren’t perfect so don’t expect perfection. Fifth, “use your support system”. It is important to inform friends and family on your schedule and goals so they can help you stick with it. Sixth, “don’t focus on getting straight A’s”, which means that your focus should be on learning, and not getting 100% on every exam.  Seventh, “have some fun.”  This is a very important step to help you not get overly stressed.  Eighth, “learn to say ‘no’.”  While at college everyone asks you to help them, and to work longer, and to do this and that, so it’s important to learn to say no.  Lastly you need to “know when you need help.”  This is the most important thing to learn, and in college you have many different people you can go to ask for help.

           In conclusion, we see that sleep is vital to your success in college.  Not only for obvious health reasons, but for scholastic reasons as well.  It has been shown that sleep, especially in the first half of the night, is vital in memory consolidation and can help you be more successful.  Learning how to manage your time is important, and something all students need to learn.  In every university, they have counselors and others to talk to to help you out.  If you are struggling, contact your student center for help.

      Work Cited

 Baltz, Jacqueline. Is sleep Deprivation The New College Norm?. Huff Post, 05 Apr. 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacqueline-baltz/sleep-deprivation-the-norm-college_b_9586402.html ,  Accessed 12 Apr 2017.

Barrett, T.R., Ekstrand, B.R. Effect of sleep on memory:  3. Controlling for time-of-day effects. J Exp Psychol,, Vol.96 No.2 pgs 321-327,

Ekstrand, B.R., Fowler M.J., Sullivan, M.J. Sleep and memory. Science,, Vol.179 pgs 302-304,

Ellenbogen, J.M., Payne, J.D., Stickgold, Robert. The Role of Sleep in Declarative Memory Consolidation: Passive, Permissive, Active or None?. Current Opinion In Neurobiology, Vol.16 pgs 716-722,

Friedmann, Lucy. Why Caffeine Is A College Student’s Worst Enemy. Huff Post, 12 Mar. 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lucy-friedmann/caffeine-sleep-college_b_9409778.html ,  Accessed 12 Apr 2017.

Johns Hopkins Student Assistance Program. School-Life Balance. Johns Hopkins University, http://jhsap.org/self_help_resources/school-life_balance/  Accessed 12 Apr 2017.

Lund, HG. Significant sleep deprivation and stress among college students, USA. Journal of adolescent Health, 10 Aug. 2009,

Oelschlager, James.. Sleep and College Life.Florida Institutue of Technology, www.fit.edu/caps/documents/SleepandCollegeLife.pdf ,  Accessed 12 Apr 2017.

Stickgold, Robert., Walker, Matthew. Memory Consolidation and Reconsolidation: What is the Role of Sleep?. Trends in Neurosciences, Vol.28 No.8 pgs 408-415,