Like many students who are involved in the world of undergraduate academia, I have considered the option of attending graduate school. I am currently interested in going to business school, because I believe that having a business degree is useful in any job field. Although on paper graduate school appears to be a good investment, I have often thought if graduate school is worth the time and money, and if it will help me to stand out in the job pool.

I have always thought that if I go to graduate school, it will make my job application stand out among the people who only had undergraduate degrees. Certainly a few more years of formal education would make a person stand out, right? Well, maybe not, as I have found. This winter my college organized a day in which a few students went to several media companies to meet with the presidents and CEO's to ask questions about the careers. While we were at an advertising firm I asked the President of the company if it was useful to go to graduate school and his answer was relatively surprising. He said, "Look, I didn't go to graduate school. To be honest, if I saw two resumes and one of applicants went to graduate school and one just had a BA, the applicant who went to graduate school wouldn't look any better to me."

Of course, this is just one opinion, but I wonder how many employers have the same mindset. Graduate schools, especially business or law schools, can set you back up to $100,000. That's a lot of pesos, folks. I ask myself, "Is it worth spending the money and time to go to graduate school if there is not a guarantee that the degree will help me stand out amongst other applicants, especially the applicants who don't have the same level of education?" Some people, including my boyfriend who is an architecture major, have to go to some form of graduate school because without a graduate degree they will not be able to go far in their chosen field. Business school, which on paper seems like a good idea, is not 100% necessary for a successful career. It seems like a gamble, and I have a year and a half to decide, but I hope that if I decide to go it will be worth it.

Have you ever thought of going to graduate school?

Well, not exactly. I think I have insomnia seasonally, ie. only when I come home from school. Every time I have a college break, my sleeping habits always take a turn for the worst and I wind up going to bed at around 4am every night (well, morning I guess) and waking up at around 2pm. I don't want to sleep my entire day away, but I can't help myself and I have a lot of issues trying to fall asleep. 

It's strange, because when I am at school my sleeping habits aren't usually this out of whack. I am pretty sure it is because I have schoolwork, jobs and other various collegiate things to worry about, and I tire myself out. I just find it odd that somehow during summer and winter breaks, my sleeping habits completely change and I have serious issues trying to retire for the night. I've tried going to bed earlier, but I wind up tossing and turning until 4am and then falling into a deep slumber until the early afternoon. This has to change, friends. Sometimes I even get tired again during the afternoon and take a short nap from about 5pm-6pm. When this happens I usually try and whip myself up a cup of coffee to keep me from sleeping, but I think my system has decided that caffeine is no longer suitable to keep me awake for long periods of time.

From what I understand this happens to quite a few college students when they come home from breaks, so I am happy to report that I am not the only one who is suffering from this nighttime plague. The main problem with my sleeping habit (or possibly the solution) is that I am starting my summer job next week and I don't want to be tired from my weird sleeping hours (OR it could encourage me to try and get to bed earlier. Hopefully.)

What should I do? Does this happen to you sometimes?