By Halee Hamilton
Columnist

Driving to school every day can get very tiring. As a commuter, you get home late, you get your homework done even later and, half of the time, and you don’t get to bed until daybreak.
Once you finally fall asleep, the 5 a.m. alarm is buzzing again and another day is beginning.
Driving to school when you are tired can be very hazardous.
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 “Sleep in America” poll, 60 percent of adult drivers say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy and more than 37 percent have actually fallen asleep at the wheel.
The week before finals my freshman year at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, I fell asleep behind the wheel for the first time.
I had been studying the night before and hadn’t gotten much sleep. I pulled up to the stoplight beside the Vigo County Courthouse and was stopped by a red light. I waited for my chance to turn left onto the bridge towards campus.
It was winter. I had my heat cranked-up on high. It was warm and cozy and I was beginning to feel drowsy. I tried turning up the volume on my radio, but at that point, it was too late. I must have dozed off because, the next thing I knew, I was looking up at a yellow turning arrow.
I managed to make the light, but, needless to say, the people behind me did not. Believe me when I say these people were not happy! Not only did my lack of sleep make me a hazard behind the wheel, but it also caused some major road rage.
This particular experience may seem kind of funny but it was actually very dangerous. On other occasions, I haven’t actually fallen completely asleep, but I have dozed and swerved off of the road.
This is why it is crucial for you get enough sleep at night. This goes for anyone, but especially commuter students, who are behind the wheel every day.

Commuter Corner, Halee Hamilton