The sunny, fall days are far behind us as we transition into a very cold and windy winter. On top of that, because we moved all the clocks back an hour in the spring, we had to move all the clocks back an hour a few weeks ago. Now, it starts to get dark at 4:30 and is pitch black outside by the time I’m done with classes.Â
The seemingly insignificant shift in the hour of the day messes up my entire schedule. When I eat, when I sleep, and when I get up in the morning all changes and sends my body for a loop. I end up getting up around 6:30 in the morning, am hungry for dinner by 4 in the afternoon, and am totally exhausted by 8 at night.Â
The week we change the clocks wreaks havoc on my body, and it can all be avoided if we just don’t change the clocks! We don’t need to move the clocks ahead in the spring, and we certainly don’t need to move them back in the fall. All the chaos that daylight savings causes aren’t even for a good reason! If you want an extra hour of daylight in the summer, then you should just get up earlier in the day. That way, the sun hasn’t completely set when I leave my class at 5:15.Â
The exceptional darkness that consumes my college campus in the late afternoon is a huge contributing factor to my motivation. My brain thinks, if it’s dark outside I should be sleeping. But no! I have assignments to do and classes to attend! The darkness outside makes me extremely groggy, and it gets hard to do the things I need to do. Daylight saving ruins the winter. It gets too dark too early, at a time when work is piling up and some sunlight would be beneficial. Without it, winters in upstate New York wouldn’t be so dark and dreary.Â
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