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The Class Lottery - This Dream May Really Come True (S&D)

by Dottie
(Dorm)

"DROWSINESS IS RED ALERT" is a phrase every single person that encounters Dr. Dement should know. From day 1 of Sleep and Dreams this year, this phrase was ingrained into our memories. But beyond its implantation into our brains was the anxiety associated with the lottery each class. The thought of getting up in front of the entire lecture and screaming such a phrase WITH the fear of not being loud enough and thus being booed is something that is extremely frightening to me and my friends in the class. Almost every class we discuss how we will freak out if our name is called, and to illustrate just how 1) ingrained this phrase is in our minds and 2) how anxious the thought of seeing our name projected on the board makes us, my dream:


My friend Sydney takes this class with me. We are both freshman at Stanford and are both equally nervous about having to scream such a phrase. In this dream, or nightmare rather, we were all sitting in lecture. The room was slightly dark for some reason and it came time for the lottery.

In large, black letters on a light blue background "Sydney" appeared. The moment she had been dreading had finally arrived, and Sydney stood up to yell the famous phrase. As she went to speak, her voice went silent. Just her lips moved. She tried again and this time her voice cracked. Of course, the entire lecture was booing her. On the third try, it came out clear but right after that I woke up laughing, because this may really be a dream that comes true!

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Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.

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