From the abundance of health advice students receive from parents, doctors and old episodes of “Barney & Friends,” we know that sleep is an important asset to the body and brain. The universal standard of eight hours per night is repeated in magazines, TV shows and the unsolicited life advice we hear at the family dinner table. But is this standard unrealistic? Has the bar been set too high?

For many college students, a healthy night’s sleep is a concept rendered obsolete, much like the idea of free time or reading for pleasure. At NYUAD, schoolwork knocks sleep off the to-do list, demoting it to a status beneath assignment deadlines, projects and extracurriculars.

Sophomore Noha Alfergani is the archetype of a busy college student. As a resident assistant and a Foundations of Science student majoring in engineering, Alfergani usually does not get more than three hours of sleep per night.

“On a good night I’ll get five, and that happens only on weekends,” Alfergani said. “Even during the weekend, you have work, problem sets or a lab report.”

Students commonly cope with sleep deprivation with caffeine and naps. But this could be detrimental to students’ health.

“It is best to keep consistent sleep patterns,” said Lisa Young, a professor of Health and Nutrition at NYUNY. “And avoid beverages including coffee, caffeinated soft drinks and energy drinks.”

Young believes that a better alternative to caffeine is something as simple as a bigger helping of food at dinner. Students can make up for an absence of sleep through larger portions and more calories.

Alfergani, who has averaged three hours of sleep since the beginning of the semester, has become so used to this schedule that the concept of more sleep is strange and even unappealing.

“If I sleep for more than eight hours, my back starts hurting and my bones get sore,” Alfergani said. “I’m not used to it.”

But long stretches of being awake eventually do take effect. Alfergani was nonchalant and even good-humored as she recounted one instance of oversleeping for 15 hours.

“I came back from the labs at six and decided to take a nap for 20 minutes. I slept at 6:30 p.m. and woke up at 8:00 a.m. the next day.”

Nasser Isleem, an Arabic Professor at NYUAD, said he notices the effects of sleep-deprivation in class particularly, especially after students go on trips.

“I once had a student who flew to Sri Lanka over the weekend, and that really caused a lot of sleep deprivation,” Isleem said. “Some of [the students], when they talk about their work, say that they stay up late and they have some sleep disorders. I relate that to the possibility of the course loads that they have, the events that they are required to go to — there are many demands that go on at Student Life here.”

Regardless of their busy schedules, students are still required to participate and engage in class.

“Nobody can hide in my class,” Isleem said. “Because of the fact that we have a small number of students, students are alert in class and I do require that students are kept awake.”

Umair Saad, a sophomore engineering student, has also noticed the impact that a lack of sleep can have on daily life.

“By Wednesday I’m just too tired,” he said. “Every class I go to I’m too tired, and my brain melts and I go crazy.”

Saad believes that productivity can make all the difference for maintaining healthy sleep patters.

“If you work on time and you get it done, then you can get enough sleep,” Saad said. “Most of the time we’re not completely devastated or destroyed from lack of sleep. It’s just that we’re tired in general.”

Freshman James Smoley said he manages to get enough rest by adhering to a steady sleep schedule.

“My bedtime is 9:30 p.m.,” Smoley said. “So even if I’m not looking at a clock, when it hits 9:30 p.m., I’m tired and I can’t focus. There’s no point in staying up.”

Freshman Allen Magnusson, another FOS student, said he remains alert in class through a carefully planned regime of napping.

“I’m a big proponent of napping,” Magnusson said. “So I have classes in the morning, and I’m sure to take a nap for about two hours afterwards, which leaves me feeling pretty refreshed.”

Caffeine is a source of quick energy that helps keep many students moving. On difficult days, Saad drinks about four cups of tea and two cups of coffee.

Despite these coping methods, after a long period of time losing sleep can have adverse effects on academics and social lives.

“The exhaustion was impeding my ability to focus,” said freshman Megan Vincent, who has recently purchased a coffee maker for AED 50 from Al Safa. “Focusing becomes an issue when you lose a lot of sleep, and you’re also in an irritable mood.”

Finding balance is not easy for students who continue to treat sleep deprivation with temporary solutions that specialists like Young advise students to avoid. Saad remembered a particularly tired day that epitomizes students in need of more hours of rest.

“Once we were taking notes in class, and after we got home, my friend realized that her notes were literally just scribbles on a page,” he said. “They weren’t even words. Just scribbles.”