You do it all. From mounting your sleigh and traveling all over the world in a 24 hour period to reading every child’s letter and checking your list not once but twice, nothing is impossible for you. Through magic and love you grant every child’s heartfelt wish—their every dream. My wish is a matter of dreams, Mr. Claus, and with your almighty power you can make my one holiday wish come true.

We are high school students. We carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. With sports, friends, school, family, college preparation, jobs, and extracurricular activities, it’s hard to find any breathing room in a 24 hour period. In the midst of all this action and our never-ending to-do lists, one thing is ultimately sacrificed: sleep! Gone are the days of visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in our heads!

In fact, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) reports 85% of teenagers do not get the necessary 8 ½-9 ¼ hours of sleep each night—sleep that is essential to teens functioning, period. Sir, it may sound simple to get this much sleep, as simple as going to bed no later than 10 PM each night, but our bodies makes it harder. The NSF also reports teenagers have skewed circadian rhythms: that is, teenagers’ biological rhythms are wired to shift towards later sleeping and waking times during adolescence. Mr.. Claus, that means it is only natural for our nocturnal minds to keep us from going to bed until after 11:00 PM. We are night owls, sir, and it’s not much of a hoot to hear a ringing alarm clock at 6 AM telling us it’s time to start the day and run off to school.

In light of this, Santa, I feel there is only one solution: add an extra hour of night. Mr. Claus, I understand this may defy science and nature—that this may “screw up” the earth’s rotational pattern, but it is the only way it won’t inconvenience anyone. Sir, only you can make the change “naturally”—only you can play to the fact humans naturally have a 25 hour circadian rhythm (or so says my psychology textbook). Mr. Claus, man who travels across the world in less than a day, surely you can do it with your magic. Every teen across the world will salute you for those extra 60 minutes daily. It’s a win-win situation, Mr. Claus—either we can spend them sleeping or getting more of our heavy pile of work done. With those kinds of odds, Santa, wouldn’t you want to give the only gift that’ll never need a gift slip, won’t it be nice to be the sender of the one present no one wants to return? A mere extra hour, Mr. Claus, and it would make all our Christmas dreams come true!