Chayce Aite's 'The Domino Effect'

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” thought Susan, “these awful nights of not sleeping. I didn’t get to sleep last night until 2 am, and then I had to be up at 5:30 am to get to the hospital for clinical. That’s not enough sleep. I feel like I’m stumbling through the day.” She said a silent prayer that she would not harm anyone during her clinical shift and continued driving to the hospital.

The rain had been drizzling down all day. It hit my window and pounded on the roof like little beads, a continuous ding. It was a beautiful sound, one that could sooth my racing mind and nerves. I had been tossing and turning for hours, sleep was a useless thought. “Today was the day,” I thought, “State Fair is the make it or break it show of the season.” I rolled over, the block letters on my clock read just passed 12:30 A.M. Who am I kidding, sleep is for the weak. I unwrapped myself from the tower of blankets I had covered myself in and preceded to busy my mind.

As the moon casts its light through the wooden blinds, at almost two to two after midnight, the flickering shadows and boisterous snores of twenty other individuals, who share my room, keep me wide awake. Eventually, I close my eyes, only to open them a few hours later. The very roommates who kept me awake through the night, now ruin my sleep as they scramble to get in line to take a shower at the only bathhouse in the tumbledown structure where I lived. I shake the rheum off my eyes and head toward the bathhouse. It’s still dark outside but the sporadic cock crows remind me it’s morning. After showering, I eat a light meal and begin my thirty-minute trek to school. My day had just begun and I am already exhausted. Under these stressful conditions, I forged a resolve to shape my future and improve the lives of others who find themselves in similar conditions. Thus, in every area of my life, I endeavor to go the extra mile and strive for success.

“Take her over to the cot,” she told Chris, and he followed orders. He rolled me near the cot, and helped me stand up. I put all my focus toward my legs so they didn’t spill out from under me, and willed them to move toward the cot, and settle myself back down. The nurse handed the medicine to me, and I quickly took it, and drained the water bottle within what felt like two seconds. My head was constantly throbbing, but it was better than the feeling that I was getting beat up by other band geeks. The phone rang, and the nurse picked it up.

I went downstairs to retrieve my phone that I had forgotten in my coat pocket. "Have you eaten yet?" My mother asked without looking up from the pile of dishes she was washing. "There's some leftover chicken Alfredo in the fridge." I shuffled to my coat and searched for it among the scraps of paper in my pocket. I pulled out a baby blue index card. On it read, in my cursive handwriting, "Our Generation has had no Great war, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives. -Chuck Palahniuk." I pushed it back in, and grabbed my phone. "No thanks, I’m not hungry." I started make my way up the steep stairs. "How much homework do you have tonight?" I peered back, to where the huge stack of papers sat, grounded by the textbook on top. "I'll take care of it," I muttered as I went back and scooped up the school work and ventured off to my room. My German Shepard puppy, Willow, was laying on my bed waiting for me. I dropped the pile of new work onto the pile I have been neglecting for some time now. I flicked off my light, and set my alarm, and went to bed. But, not to sleep. For, all my nights are sleepless, but not

My body was enclosed in soft fluffy blankets. Though it felt so good to be back in my own bed I also felt out of place. It was too peaceful almost, like the calm before a storm. I got out of bed dragging one of my smaller blankets with me. I wrapped it around myself as I approached my living room. I smiled seeing Shanes sleeping form sprawled across my couch. I tip toed my way to him and nudged his shoulder. "Hey Shane wake up." I spoke softly. He groaned and batted my hand away.

The film used a great an example, which is explaining the effects sleep can have on people. When people stress themselves by not getting any sleep at all and the next morning they cannot remember a single thing for that final exam. I can relate to that phenomenon because it has happened to me before. When I stay up late and wake up very early in the morning and slept for a total of 4-5 hours, I tend to not do as well on my exams as usual. There have been times that I had forgot things that I knew perfectly well due to lack of sleep. In documentary, there was a town shown named Richmond California that has different level of class environments. Cardiologist Jeffery Ritterman explained the differences between two neighborhoods. According to Ritterman, people in the lower class neighborhoods health outcome are a lot worse and the life expectancy is not the same as the middle class. I do not agree with Mr. Ritterman because I have experienced life in both high class and low class environments and in my opinion, the people health outcomes are mostly based on the individuals themselves and the family they come from. One of Mr. Ritterman patients named Emmanuel Johnson is a guardian counselor in one of America’s most dangerous places. Mr. Johnson claims that the society that he revolves himself around causes stress, in which leads to his illness. I have live in a low class environment my whole life that has a lot of violence, and witnessed a lot of people not get ill due to the stress that their environment can cause. Yes, I will admit living in a dangerous environment can be very stressful because you never know to except. Everytime you hear police siren, helicopters, ambulance or gunshot, you begin to worry about family and close friends. There are some nights that it is hard for me to sleep because I am worried about love ones at times. The only way for people to reduce their stress according to the documentary is by

The night was long and restless , I gave Karen the sofa , I took the uncomfortable wooden chair . When I would doze off a nurse would come in to check on my dad , waking me up instantly . The morning was here , dad had awoke speechless just looking all around . I held his hand , feeling it shake from being scared .

“Good night mom,” I called as I closed the door to my room , flicked off the lights, and headed towards my bed. I glanced over at the tiny white screen of my alarm clock. It read 10:45 p.m. I laid down, closed my eyes, and let my mind wander until a dark veil draped over my eyes and I entered the world of sleep.

While my “Court” practice was brief, these moments sharing “medical skills” offered an interesting glimpse of my future. When Jacob, the professional baseball player, broke his leg sliding into home, Dr. Brown came to the rescue. When Riley brought in her screaming daughter, Ashleigh, after splitting her chin open and gushing blood, emergency services were rendered complete with stitches, a kind touch, and a sticker to put a smile on her face. Mrs. T. also indulged my imagination by sharing her ailments, and, as always, Dr. Brown had the right medicine. Exploration into the imaginary was an exercise in creating great leaders for tomorrow, and gave me profound purpose.

They had Me Strapped into the chair. Fat, rugged leather straps ran across my ankles and wrists binding my constricted body to the resting place of my sanity, or insanity. The room was the essence of blank. It reeked of alcohol, and control. The walls were cocaine white on a brand new car, not a speck of dust anywhere in sight. The ambience did not change even when the nurse opened the door. I watched as her face muscles didn’t move an inch as she looked at me. She was as blank as smooth rock on a pondside. I wanted to see what she had to say. Why wasn’t she speaking to me. Nurse ratched stood by and watched as my muscles started to swell from the strain i was expunging to try and break free. The old leather flexed up and down as the fibrous

“I asked more questions I swear, but she said she couldn’t say anymore, that she shouldn’t have told me anything” Alice cried. I tried my best to come up with something to say to her. I’ve never been in a situation like this. I just let her cry into her knees again. I walked over to the kitchen and brewed her some tea to help her get back to sleep, but by the time I got back into the room she was already fast asleep, tears still on her cheek. The dog was curled up in the bend of her knees. I set the tea on the nightstand, wiped away her tear and got into bed myself. I last little bit has been so hectic, trying to calm Alice, that I hadn’t taken the

She reached for the bulky remote control attached to the wall and lying at the top of her mattress. After she called the nurse, she pressed the power button off and watched as the picture faded to a tiny dot in the center of the screen of the outdated television. She stared at the dot until it, too, faded into the darkness of the screen. She lay back on the pillow and closed her eyes, trying to decide whether to ask for more medicine. She fought the nagging feeling that she really didn't need the pain meds as much as she wanted the pain meds. Well, I deserve it, she thought. Maybe I can take a nap if they give me more medicine.

Pope states not only does a student’s schedule and work load affect their sleep, but roommates, loud noises in the hall, and cleaning crews working early in the morning can also affect a student’s sleep. Now, counselors and health officials are developing new ways to spread the message of how sleep can significantly help a student’s GPA. However, Pope also mentions how college administrators hesitate to inform parents about the lack of sleep problem because parents spend an enormous amount of money so their child could receive an education, not more sleep. Pope uses examples to explain that lack of sleep can cause depression, anxiety, and also affect a student’s relationship with others. Pope introduces James Maas, known to be the guru of the college sleep campaign. Maas showed his own students what lack of sleep can do therefore, influencing his students to take their sleep seriously in order to improve their grades. In conclusion, Pope ties the idea of students accepting it as normal to have lack of sleep since their peers talk about it so much

“After breakfast we need to put you back in your straight jacket. It would help if you were cooperative, Edgar,” the nurse pleaded. By the tone in her voice and the look of her face, she had not slept the night before.