Sabrina+P’s+OpEd+Article

** "Alarm Clocks, or the Bane of my Existence" ** by Sabrina P.

Every time I hear the sound of an alarm clock on some banal TV commercial, I flinch. It’s not because the noise makes me think of early mornings; on the contrary, I try not to use my alarm clock.
====In fact, every morning my mind and clock wage a race against (what else?) time. My mind tries to rouse my body before the digital numbers on my clock read 6:40 and the grating beeping starts. It’s partly because I can’t stand the noise. My traditional, run-of-the-mill alarm clock sounds like a mechanical sheep bleating to save its life. But even if I set the alarm on my phone or bought a radio alarm clock, I’d still face problem number two: the fact that every morning my alarm clock wins, I feel more tired than when I wake up by myself.====

====Mayo Clinic sleep researchers believe that relying on an alarm clock to wake you up is a sign that you’re not getting enough sleep. It’s not a crazy idea if you think about it: an alarm clock, by waking you up, seriously disturbs your sleep cycle by pulling you out of the depths of your rest. Alarm clocks keep you from getting the right amount of sleep, therefore creating a sleep depravity that continues into the succeeding days and creates a dependence on alarm clocks.====

====Of course, for many, the alarm clock will always be a necessity. In our society of late nights and structured work and school days, there’s hardly enough hours in the night to catch up on our sleep and mornings remain a struggle--everyone needs something to help them wake up in the mornings. Personally, I’ll continue my routine of battling my alarm clock. I know my inability to magically wake up in the mornings feeling refreshed betrays the fact I’m not getting enough sleep, but I feel better knowing that it was **me** who disturbed my sleep routine and not an alarm clock that sounds like a dying sheep.====