Night Walkers

Waking up in the middle of the night, you happen upon a zombified student staggering through the hallways with glazed over, sleepy eyes. And no, these students are not dressing up for Halloween or suffering from a surplus of homework assignments. They are sleepwalkers. 

While there are countless myths surrounding the phenomenon, most scientists believe interruptions during deep sleep can spur physical activity. Sleepwalking is most common among children, but several students have experiences either from the past or more recently.

“One time, I grabbed a pair of socks, walked into my mom’s room, and said ‘Here’s the paper!’” says seventh grader Sophia del Valle. For her, stress is a major factor. “I tend to [sleepwalk] whenever I’m nervous in real life,” she says. “Whatever happens in your dreams, your body decides to act it out.” 

Freshman Sebastian Borjas sleepwalked once when he was in an unfamiliar environment. “I was in Berlin, and [my family had] just gone to bed . . . when I tried multiple times to break out of our hotel room, to the point where they had to lock the door, and then I walked into the bathroom and just spoke gibberish,” he says. “My family told me the next day when I woke up in a different bed.” 

Seventh grader Adilyn Brewer is a witty sleepwalker. “I was about seven, and my brother was just coming home about 11o’clock, and I was sitting on the couch. My brother asked me ‘What are you doing awake?’ and I just replied, ‘I already got all my beauty sleep,’” she says.

Junior Will Richards is not only a sleepwalker but a sleeptalker. “I’m worried that I’m going to accidentally spill the beans on something when I talk in my sleep, but most of the time it’s just gibberish. But I used to sleepwalk when I was a kid. One time I walked downstairs to my kitchen from my room,” he says. “I opened my fridge, and I stared inside it for a few minutes. And my mom comes down and asks, ‘What are you doing?’ . . . and I’m like, ‘I need to go to the bathroom!’ . . . I’m just glad I didn’t pee in the fridge,” says Richards. 

Faculty member Kalli McClure used to sleepwalk, although she outgrew the habit. “One time, I got out of bed, put on my sandals and walked out the back door, and I fell into a little ravine in the back yard and went back to sleep in the dirt,” she says. “I heard my parents yelling for me, and I just popped up and went ‘oh this is strange.’” The experience brought her closer to her older brother. “For the next couple of days he was ready with a baseball bat, just thinking . . .  something strange would happen,” she says.

Seabury students and faculty have a wide range of sleepwalking stories, but all of them agree it is a uniquely surreal experience. Sleepwalking can even allow people to live their visions, as del Valle says. “I feel like I’ve lived my dreams in a weird way!”