Fighting fatigue is one thing many students struggle with throughout their high school careers. Between homework, clubs and sports, it’s hard to find time to fit in the one thing that keeps students sane: sleep.

The average high school student should get at least eight hours of sleep every night. A sufficient amount of sleep is necessary for teenagers to feel rejuvenated each day and be ready to concentrate in school, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Senior Julann Scheibal notices a drastic change in her performance at school when she doesn’t get enough sleep.

“My day is just me dragging around and falling asleep in classes that I need to pay attention in,” she said. “I don’t function without sleep.”

As students get older, they tend to get less rest per night. The average freshman gets the advised eight hours of sleep, while the average senior gets around six, the National Sleep Foundation said.

“I feel that most of my friends receive a good amount of sleep,” freshman Jacquelin Anderson said. “[My friends] take school seriously, like me, which involves getting a good amount of sleep every night.”

One reason for the drop off in sleep for seniors could be the large amount of responsibilities they gain throughout their four years in high school, the Central for Advancing Health (CFAH) said.

“As students progress through high school, demands on their time from hectic social activities, jobs, homework and family obligations increase and they sleep less to fit them in,” the CFAH said.

This trend is here at EHS. Freshmen Shivani Greene and Anderson are both involved in three activities at school, while seniors Spencer Burbach and Scheibal are involved in six to eight.  Burbach and Scheibal also make time in their schedules for jobs.

Increased activities are not the only reason seniors tend to get less sleep. Burbach has noticed he doesn’t place as much emphasis on sleep this year than he has in the past because school is less of a priority for him.

“The seniors just don’t care I think. I know that’s awful to say, but we are just ready to move on with the next chapter of our lives, and for most of us, the only grades that mattered were our freshman through junior year grades,” he said.

Scheibal has noticed a similar lack of inspiration in herself to get more sleep this year.

“During my freshman year I went to bed at 8:30 sharp no matter what,” she said. “This year it’s always ‘just a few more minutes,’ but those minutes turn into hours.”

Even though seniors are feeling the effects of an insufficient amount of sleep, they know they need to push through and make it to the end of the school year.

“I had a few rough tests of ‘senioritis,’ but I think I’m getting back into the swing of things,” Scheibal said. “I’m definitely more tired than I was in past years, but I’ve learned to deal with it.”