Sleep is such a precious commodity.

This may seem obvious to the sleep-deprived college students of the world. As if any of us need reminding, studies show that college students in particular suffer from sleep-deprivation.

The average teenager needs nine hours of sleep a night, while the average adult needs seven to eight hours.

Yeah, right.

Especially at this time of year, between Veishea, final projects, finals week, and looking for summer jobs and internships, it’s safe to say a good portion of students likely don’t get seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

Yet, it seems to have become trendy to use not having enough sleep as an excuse for making a mistake. Consider a recent “oops” moment from President Barack Obama’s administration.

In a daily e-mail from the White House Press Office, media members received a draft of Obama’s schedule. The e-mail included a back-and-forth exchange between White House staffers — not the type of material the press usually receives, nor the type the staff would want the press to see.

The exchange included a line from one staffer suggesting a change in wording on part of the e-mail to “put more emphasis on the real people aspect of this.” Another exchange included debate about whether or not to hold a Passover dinner, and whether it would be open to the press.

Still another debated whether to tell the press that Obama was attending a Veterans Service Organizations and Military Service Organizations meeting. One staffer wanted to keep the information on the released schedule because “It’s good for us to say we are meeting with them.”

So the administration sent the wrong e-mail to the press, blamed a sleep-deprived staffer, and said the staffer would not be punished.

This is far from the worst mistake the administration will make in four years in office, but it brings up an interesting question. At what point do we let a lack of sleep become an excuse for our mistakes?

Most professors wouldn’t take “lack of sleep” as an excuse for typos on a term paper. Falling asleep at the wheel is never a good excuse for getting in a car accident. And you can bet making a mistake on the first day of your summer internship wouldn’t be easily written off by saying you simply didn’t get enough sleep last night.

We on the editorial board get it. Sleep is hard to come by. Many students have a lot of things going on in their lives beyond taking a full class load, and there are only 24 hours in a day.

But as you gear up for the final push, try to give yourself an adequate amount of rest. Your body will thank you, and, likely, so will your grades.