Emily+S’s+Final+AmEx+2013+Speech

=Title of Speech= Sleep Is a Must Have

=Text of Speech=

Accidentally falling asleep during school has either been a sign that we're bored, we don’t want to listen to the lecture or that we’re just plan tired. But I know for a lot of us, it’s a sign that we're over worked. Whether we are busy doing homework late at night: maybe it's for you physio class or a blog that we seemingly only just learned at 9pm that it’s due in the morning; Or cramming all the information from history this year right before the AP exam: School drives us so hard, and that even sleeping our 6-8 hours a night, it just isn't enough. Many of us- well, all of us in this class- are taking at least 2 AP classes. We've worked all year long. Living weekend to weekend and even using those days to catch up on homework. We’ve pushed hard each day.

Sleep is the most precious "thing" we have. We need it in order to live, and overall function in society. Our lack of sleep causes us to become teenage zombies in the plight to survive high school. Our study groups and cram sessions have threatened to decrease our sleep hours. Along with finals and our ever favorite AP classes disrupting our sleep schedules. I know the famous quote “you can sleep when you're dead...” has sadly seemed to become more of a reality to us all.

We use our sleep to rest our bodies and ready ourselves for the day ahead of us. We use this time to rejuvenate our minds, clear our thoughts of the previous days stress filled, homework piled, and the mind numbing hours spent at school. I for one, love sleep. I don’t think anyone here hates sleeping. We’d be dead without it. But with all the work we’ve done this school year and the lack of sleep most of us have experienced, I’m almost afraid that we’re going to be spending the summer sleeping; instead of being able to frolic in the sun and adventure the days away.

According to statisticbrain.com, kids from the age 10-17 need 9 hours of sleep. But only 31% of high school students get an average of 8 hours of sleep. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know I fall into that 31%. Sometimes 8 hours of sleep is higher than what I usually get.Lots of us will make excuses for staying up late: you had homework, you usually stay up late, you don’t need to get good sleep to function well at school, and of course, everyone’s favorite, Yolo right? But, we really just need to focus on our sleeping schedules. It’s not that hard. I promise.

Honestly, we all know that sleep is wonderful! It is our only time to get away from the stresses of life and dream about anything we desire. We can dream about being rich or swimming in a pool full of Jell-O, or flying like superman and saving the day. Whatever it is, it's our chance every day to relinquish the obscurities of life and just relish in the phenomenal imagination that lies beneath our conscious.Sleep should be enjoyable and we should focus on treating ourselves to a well rested body and mind.

In the America I grow old in…I'd like to see people who are well rested and ready for the day ahead of them. In the America I grow old in, I want sleeping in till 10 and even 11 o'clock to be graciously accepted if you need those extra hours to be rested. Sleeping is important to us all, and essential for life. Instead of putting sleep off, we should manage our time wisely and make it our top priority to get an adequate amount of sleep.So for all of this summer, I know the majority of us stay up late, and that's fine. Just sleep the hours you need to be well rested. Get some sleep, and thoroughly enjoy your last summer before we plunge into senior year.

Thank you.

=Cite Your Sources= [|Sleeping Order Statistics]