At 5:40am, Griselda Martinez, a junior at PRHS, wakes up to the shadowy sky and gets ready to start her day. Martinez considers herself an early bird because of her usual morning routines: ”On weekdays I tend to wake up around 5:40 because I need to start getting ready for school. I also take the public bus to school, so I have to get up early.”

Martinez expresses that she does feel more energetic throughout the mornings, but as some students might relate, winter break caused an effect on her sleeping schedule. Nonetheless, Martinez is obligated to wake up early, “My motivation to wake up early is because I tend to see it in a positive way. It makes me more productive in the mornings and it’ll help when I’m older,” Martinez said.
As the calming sunrise approaches, early birds are starting their day while night owls are just going to bed. For high school students, sleeping early or sleeping late can cause a huge difference within their day. Researchers believe that there are benefits to both, but the recurring thought of which is better is always up to interpretation. High school students tend to be the ones who either sleep early or sleep late. Some students at PRHS consider themselves to be early birds and night owls.

On the other hand, Daniela Mera, a junior at PRHS, considers herself a night owl. Going to sleep when the rest of her family is already asleep, Mera tends to sleep late on school nights. “I usually go to sleep at 11pm or later during school nights and I sleep even later on weekends. Winter break really affected my sleep schedule. I went to bed at like 1:00am or later,” Mera said.
Mera explained that she tends to sleep late due to her school schedule and extracurriculars, often getting home around 5pm and still having to do homework or chores. She also notices a difference in her mood and productivity level when she sleeps too late. “I want to try to sleep earlier, I think it’ll help with my energy levels,” Mera said. She expresses that fixing a sleep schedule is no easy task, however, she’ll try due to the school hours revolving around a daytime schedule.
According to Healthline Media, early birds have an easier time adjusting to daytime schedules and have more energy throughout the first half of the day. However, night owls tend to have more energy through the second half of the day and research has proven that this group might adhere to their schedules due to most of society being based on a daytime schedule.
Avi Varma, the writer and medical expert on this topic, believes that being an early bird or a night owl depends on various factors: genetics, physical activity, and a person’s own personal choice. Additionally, sleep patterns change as a person ages, so most people slowly convert themselves into being an early bird.
Jennifer Martinez, the psychology teacher, has many comments about this topic. Martinez considers herself an early bird, “I think students can practice strategies to help them get to sleep, stay asleep and get enough sleep, but sometimes it all just depends on the chemicals in the body and how those chemicals dictate sleep and sleep patterns. I know several students that I suspect have sleeping disorders. It is a rarity these days for anyone to get a full restful night’s sleep and there are so many contributing factors as to why that is the case.”

Martinez also believes that the benefit of getting to sleep early is that there are more opportunities in the night to get a good full cycle of sleep in. She believes that a person who goes to sleep late has less time to get in the sleep cycles needed.
Martinez’s experience as a psychology teacher has given her the knowledge about teenagers and sleep. For early birds, the brain has had time to rest and repair info from the prior day. However, for night owls, the teenage brain tends to not be tired until 11-12 at night; this is due to the brain producing melatonin later in the evening. Martinez believes that sleep is a great benefit of the brain, so night owls should research how to fix their sleeping schedules.