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The Stages of Pulling an All-Nighter

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TAMU chapter.

We all pull all-nighters. I pull them. You pull them. Your dog pulls them watching you furiously slam away at your MacBook’s keyboard. Yeah, Mom, I know there are permanent bags under my eyes.

Let’s be straight forward here. All-nighters are not fun. You do not feel like a ball of sunshine at 8 A.M. walking to take the exam you studied 12 straight hours for (the one that, maybe, will end up only being a C+, but let’s not talk about that right now). Let’s talk about the stages of your sleepless night because the ugly has to be shown, people. Hopefully, your parents read this because, girl, they think those bags are because of endless nights of partying (that too, probably).

The Decision

This, my friend, is the point in which you decided there’s no other plan of action. You need that A+ (or you just really need to make it to Northgate tomorrow night, but that’s not the point).

 

The Preparation

Laptop chargerd? Check. Books laid out for maximum studying strategy? Check. Coffee? Check. Loving dog sitting next to me for comfort? Check.

 

The “What Have I Done?” Stage

We all know what this is. This is when your clock hits 3 A.M. It’s too late to go to bed, so you have to go through with your decision.

 

The “Maybe if I Just Take a Ten Minute Nap” Stage

This is what separates the winners from the losers. No, seriously. If you fall asleep, you’ll probably miss that exam, so stay up. Do some jumping-jacks.

 

The Determined Stage

Oh, yes. The “I GOT THIS” stage. You do. You do, in fact, got this. Have the hallucinations started?

 

The “Oh, Well” Stage

Here you are walking to class without an ounce of sleep. It’s do or die. There’s nothing much you can do now.

 

The Well-Deserved Snooze

Well, this is just my favorite part. Trudge up the stairs grunting past your questioning roommate. Give them a little bear grunt, drag your backpack up the stairs, and throw yourself onto the bed. It’s time for hibernation (until next week because you have another exam).

 

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." – Ernest Hemingway Carina received her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University in May 2019. She was employed on campus at the University Writing Center as a Writing Consultant and in the Department of English as a Digital Media Assistant. She was the Editor-in-Chief for the Her Campus at TAMU chapter and was also the President of TAMU’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society. She previously interned with the Her Campus National Team as a Chapter Advisor and with KVIA ABC-7 News as a News Correspondent Assistant.