A Class That Completely Changed How I Think

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I took Cognitive Psychology during my sophomore year of college, fully expecting it to be manageable. Not a blow-off class, but something I could keep up with as long as I stayed organized. I was wrong. 

The course was taught by a professor with a doctorate in psychology who had previously worked with the United Nations conducting memory research. From the first few weeks, it was clear this class would demand more. It required precision, deep understanding, and the ability to think critically about how the mind actually works. 

It quickly became one of the most challenging classes I had taken. 

That challenge, though, came with an unexpected payoff. On two of the exams, I ended up setting the curve. That experience alone shifted something in me. It boosted my confidence in a way I hadn’t anticipated and reminded me that struggling with difficult material often means you’re learning something that truly matters. 

But the moment that completely changed how I think came from a different place.

One of the core topics in the class was the relationship between sleep and memory; how sleep affects learning, retention, and cognitive functioning as a whole. I had always struggled with my sleep schedule. As a child, I had sleep apnea severe enough to require surgery, and even later in life, sleep felt like an obstacle. 

Learning the science behind sleep changed that. 

Seeing, in concrete terms, how essential sleep is to memory consolidation, emotional regulation, decision-making, and overall brain health reframed everything. Sleep is foundational to how we function as humans. The evidence was overwhelming, and it forced me to confront how casually I had treated something so vital. 

That realization reprioritized a lot in my life. After that class, I started reading and researching on my own, digging deeper into sleep science beyond what we covered in class. The more I learned, the clearer it became that sleep affects nearly every aspect of our lives from how we learn to how we cope, perform, and connect with others. 

Even now, long after leaving school, that mindset has stayed with me. I prioritize sleep in a way I never did before. Not perfectly, but intentionally. Because once you understand how much of your mental and physical health depends on it, it stops feeling optional. 

Cognitive Psychology changed how I value my energy and my health. It taught me that understanding how the mind works isn’t abstract or theoretical but that it has real consequences for how we live every day.

And that’s a lesson I’ve carried with me ever since. 

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