Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog.

My name is Gustavo Alves, and I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale. Here at BASIS Scottsdale, seniors are given the opportunity to take the third semester to focus on a research project which is of personal interest to us. My project will be centered about sleep, specifically among high school students. I will be studying sleep at the Mayo Clinic Hospital, under the expertise of sleep specialist Dr. Krahn, and supervision by faculty member Dr. Scaling.

But why sleep? Beyond my personal passion for naps, I became fascinated by how sleep quality affects an individual. Throughout my high school career, I, along with the majority of my peers, sacrificed numerous hours of our precious sleep for additional studying and essay-writing. It always seemed like a good idea, and occasionally yielded positive results.  But, short-term results aside, what were the actual effects of naturally stressed 15-18 year old students sleeping significantly less? Given our average stress levels, our brains were processing a thousand ideas per minute--thinking about our upcoming tests, what tasks we had to do, and how we would manage our personal lives with our imposing academic career. Consequently, not only did we not get enough sleep, but the sleep that we got was of considerably poor quality. 

On my trip to the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Krahn invited me to be a part of her ongoing research on how pets may actually improve sleep quality. Specifically, I will be analyzing if such holds true to high-school students. The research challenges the popular notion that dogs and cats in the bedroom are disruptive and will wake the owner. With over one half of the American population already pet owners, the solution to poor sleep quality may actually be simpler than most expected while also offering a rather natural approach, rather than the consumption of pills and other medication. 

For the next couple of months, I will be updating this blog with my most recent findings at the Mayo Clinic, as well as the day-to-day at my internship. With the project officially starting within the next couple of weeks, my excitement to be a part of a project that may have a positive impact on others continues to grow. Additionally, I will share my personal experiences through attempting to improve my own sleep quality with Hank, my 3 year old dog. 

Thank you for the time and feedback,

Gustavo