We have all seen the advertisements. The shots of caffeine, which energize you for five hours. The soft drinks that have more caffeine than ever for those long days of working. And how can we forget about caffeine gum? Chew until you drop.
As the semester reaches an end, Quinnipiac students are scrambling to finish their workloads in time to study for finals and wrap up their college social lives. In order to get it all done at once, students on campus need the energy to do it.
“Usually I wake up five minutes before class, go to class and am still tired after,” junior finance major Ryan Mikotacyzk said.
According to an article published on the Brown University Web site, “College students are among the most sleep-deprived people in the country.” If college students are so deprived of sleep, where is the energy to fit everything into a 24 hour day coming from?
Many take advantage of the on campus Starbucks for their caffeine jolt. “I smoke cigarettes and drink coffee,” freshman business major James Walsh said. “It wakes me up in the morning when I am still half asleep. I don’t really care that it isn’t necessarily good for me, I need to wake up.”
However, some do care about the health effects of their morning habits and take a healthy alternative to caffeine. Freshman nursing major Kristin Kozlowski said, “On the occasion that I do go to the gym in the morning, I find that I am much more energetic and awake.”
According to the MythBusters Web site, a healthy alternative to drinking coffee is eating a full apple every morning. The caffeine in the coffee will wear off quickly compared to the lasting effects of the natural sugars and positive aspects of eating an apple.
When apples and coffee are nowhere in sight, location can be key when trying to pull an all-nighter. “I put myself in a place where it is really well lit, because I can’t seem to stay awake in darker rooms,” senior marketing major Patty Forgione said.
“I go to the library and sit at a cubicle because I know that I can’t fall asleep there, as long as I stay away from the big comfy leather chairs,” freshman occupational therapy major Kim Ciorciari said.
Another option, although falling back into the unhealthy category, is an energy drink. The health side effects are still unknown, but the caffeine buzz is unmistakable.
“Energy drinks taste like crap, but they keep me awake, especially in class,” freshman communications major Amanda Cupelli said.
When all else fails, the solution to the lack of sleep could always be getting more sleep. Although opportunities to nap may be few and far between, it would only add to the amount of sleep college students get. “I nap all of the time, and I feel energized, depending on how long I nap,” freshman communications major Marissa Kameno said.
The old adage “You can’t cheat mother nature,” is true for sleep as well.
But no matter how many Starbucks Quinnipiac puts on campus, there will always be sleepy college students wandering down Dorm Road.
