Turn and look at your bff– no, it’s not your best friend –it’s that black bean brew that wakes you up at any time of day.
Coffee will hug you close when you’re bending over the pile of bio notes you’re trying to cram into your head the night before the 9AM exam, and will also pinch you when you need to keep your eyelids open to read the words on the page. It will be your significant other, your confidant, the one you want to bequeath your life savings to in your will.
Okay, maybe you won’t want to praise coffee to THAT level of acknowledgement, but it will get you through your tough nights and even tougher mornings. I’ve heard enough about other people’s coffee preferences to know that there are two typical attitudes towards coffee.
The first, are the people who can’t walk, talk, or make eye contact without their morning coffee. Interestingly enough, it’s easy to spot those people who have this attitude because they’re usually the ones with the graphic tees that say “don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning coffee.”
The second, are those who drink coffee for the enjoyment of tasting the finely ground beans or those who carry mugs and ice coffee cups purely for the social integrity of their aesthetic. These people don’t abuse the power of coffee and are usually found sipping on café mochas and lightly whipped skim milk macchiatos at your local, privately owned, rugged, purposely-battered, super overpriced coffee shop.
Generalizations aside, here’s my experience with drinking coffee. I never fell under the category of either of the above perspectives – I only drank it for pleasure, not to stay energized or to make a social stunt out of it. Recently, however, I’ve discovered a new way of thinking about coffee.
Over a month ago, I met with my microeconomics professor about my struggle with finding time to study. To help me improve my performance, he gave me some  advice that went exactly as follows, “If you feel like you’re having difficulty finding time and feel low on energy, drink coffee.” It was that simple. He sat behind his desk with a smug look as if he gave me the keys to the kingdom of success. Now let’s put this into perspective, I had a very respected, intelligent, arguably the most rational economist in the nation telling me to drink coffee to get ahead in my studies. Remember that coffee is medically designated as a stimulant and is on the NCAA list of banned substances (check out caffeine on the list of banned substances here). As concerned as I first felt, he made a reasonable point. At this level of education, there aren’t enough hours in the day to get done what needs to be done. That is why coffee helps pull college students up by their straps and extend their ride into the land of learning and education. You’d be surprised by how much more work you can squeeze into a night with three more hours on hand when your brain is caffeinated and alert.
(Caution: coffee can be unhealthy without proper hydration or brushing your teeth, so to avoid those drawbacks be sure to drink your body weight in ounces per day and keep up with your dental care.)
College is the time to experiment, and it is also a great time to test your tolerance for coffee. So head to your dining hall and take a cup, or two, of coffee with you next time you hit the books- you won’t know how it effects you until you try it. But be wary of the effects it might have on your body. You are the best judge of what is good and bad for you, so proceed with sensibility…and get work done!! Yeah finals!!