There are few experiences in college as universally humbling as the 8:30 A.M. class. Unfortunately for us college students, course registration doesn’t always care who you are and you should consider yourself lucky if you can avoid the treacherous 7:25 A.M. No matter how confident you felt when registering for that 8:30 A.M. course months ago, the reality hits a little differently when your alarm goes off in the dark and you’re suddenly expected to be fully functioning before most college students are even awake.
Put simply, there are three types of girls in college and their morning routines do not look the same. One wakes up at 5:00 A.M. to be productive before her 8:30, one wakes up just in time to make it to her 8:30 and one is (usually) going to sleep through her 8:30. These three girls are in the same lecture hall, but they are living three completely different mornings.
The Disciplined One
She arrives early. Not five minutes before class early, more like 20 minutes. By the time the rest of the class is stumbling in with iced coffee and a half eaten yogurt, she is already settled at her desk. Laptop open, notebook ready, color-coded notes from the previous lecture pulled up.
This class isn’t even the start to her day, she’s already lived a full morning. She went to the gym, showered and ate a hearty breakfast that involved more than just a rice cake. If she’s feeling extra spicy, she might even review the lecture slides beforehand, which feels slightly intimidating for the rest of us who are still trying to figure out what chapter we are even on.
No one knows how she does it all. She might be the busiest person you know but manages it so easily. She has a rare case of successful time management skills and if you hangout with her enough, you will hopefully gain some yourself. There’s something admirable and terrifying about her. She makes her 5:00 A.M. wake up time look like fun and her 8:30 class is no academic obstacle, it’s more like a productive lifestyle choice.
The Delusional Optimist
This girl truly believes the 8:30 A.M. lecture is going to change her life. At the beginning of the semester, she tells everyone the same thing: “This is going to fix my sleep schedule.” In theory, it’s not a bad idea. If she has to be somewhere at 8:30 A.M., she will obviously start waking up early, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Slowly, she might start journaling in the morning, possibly even becoming one of those people who says things like “I love mornings.” Who knows! Again, this is all in theory. In reality, her alarm goes off around 7:00. She hits snooze. Then 7:20. Snooze again. 7:30. Another snooze. By the time her fifth alarm goes off at 8:00 A.M., she launches herself out of bed with the speed and panic of someone who has just remembered they left their kid at school. Somehow, she is dressed, braiding her hair on the go and speed-walking across campus by 8:20. She arrives right on time, catching her breath as she sits and realizes that she is starving.
It’s a vicious and unforgiving cycle. But every single morning, she tells herself the same thing: “Tomorrow I’ll wake up earlier.”
Tomorrow never really arrives. But her optimism is stronger than any coffee you could brew!
The Girl Who Shouldn’t Have Signed Up for This Class
This girl did not choose the 8:30 A.M., the 8:30 A.M. chose her. Maybe it’s her critical tracking and this was the only section left when registration opened. Maybe it was recommended by an advisor who said it would “fit nicely in the schedule.” Maybe she had a brief lapse in judgement where waking up early sounded like a good idea. Whatever the reason, she is now committed to this early morning class. At least according to her UF course schedule.
On good days, she enters the classroom at 8:45 carrying an energy drink with so much caffeine it definitely isn’t safe for consumption. Her hair is in a genuine messy bun (not the cute Pinterest ones) and her pajamas suggest that she plans on going back to sleep after this class ends. She opens her laptop and tries her best to catch up on the slides she missed. Five minutes later, she is staring at the same line in her notes wondering how the professor has managed to speed through two major concepts she somehow missed entirely.
On the bad days, her alarm is taken as a suggestion and she decides to sleep through her class. Hopefully, there are more good days than bad. But despite it all, she always tries her best to show up and that deserves recognition.
The Truth is You Might Be All Three
The funny thing about college routines is that they’re rarely consistent. By the time finals approach, even the most disciplined student might find herself barely showing up on time with caffeine running through her veins.
These three categories aren’t fixed identities because college schedules are unpredictable. Sleep habits change constantly and everyone is figuring out what works for them in real time. Some people genuinely function best early in the morning while others are far more productive late at night.
Despite what productivity culture sometimes suggests, there isn’t one correct way to structure your day. The girl thriving at 6 am and the girl doing her best work at midnight are both navigating college in ways that make perfect sense for them. But the most important part is that somehow (as long as all the back up alarms are working) everyone is making it to their 8:30 am class.