I will be the first to admit that sleep was not on the top of my priority list as a freshman. My first semester I would regularly stay up all night at the sorority house cramming for tests one night, and then stay up till the wee hours at a social event the next. The nights that I did stay in my dorm, I would lie in bed watching old Laguna Beach episodes with my roommate until 2 a.m. With an average of four hours of sleep a night with an occasional nap here and there, I think it is fair to say I was running on fumes. When my parents would tell me that I needed to sleep more I would joke that I would just sleep when I was dead.

This all changed after finals in December. Just hours after getting home I started getting stomach pain right below my belly button. Over the course of the night the pain worsened to the point that it was making me physically sick. This went on for about 12 hours before my parents decided to take me to the hospital. It turned out I had appendicitis and had to have immediate surgery to remove my appendix. After the surgery my doctor asked me questions about my general health and daily habits. He told me that the stress that I was putting on my body is what probably led to my body failing me. My lack of sleep literally led to me having an organ removed from my body.

In hindsight, I had other minor warning signs that I was not getting enough sleep. For example, I had frequent headaches. Throughout the semester, I noticed that I was getting headaches more and more, and they were progressively getting worse each time. I figured they were just a side effect of living in Tutwiler and didn’t think much of them.

Like my freshman self, many students do not realize that they are sleep deprived or just how easy it is to get a good night of sleep. Upon returning to school in January I made serious adjustments to my sleeping habits. I made it a goal to get better nights and full sleep. I also stopped watching television before going to bed and moved my cell phone across the room so that I was not tempted to surf Facebook while I lay in bed. I could immediately see a difference in my health. I did not suffer from as many headaches, my grades improved and I was happier over all. All it took were little changes to my everyday routine to make a dramatic change in my life. Making these small changes to create a new norm as a freshman will influence me for the rest of my life so that I don’t get caught #RunningOnFumes.

Laura Ying is a junior majoring in public relations. She is a member of the #RunningOnFumes campaign.