Sleep deprivation. That is the name of the game when it comes to college. Whether it is for social or academic reasons, college students (not excluding myself) frequently come across this problem. Though there are multiple causes for such a prevalent issue among college students, I am going to high light some of my personal experiences with late-night coffee dates with the textbook, presentations, projects, and papers that we college students adore so much.  

“Well… here we finally are. It is the end of the semester and you, my friend, are due tomorrow and I’ve got all night and a coffee mug that never seems to run out of coffee. I’ve been waiting to confront you all semester.”

These are my exact thoughts as I stare at a blank word document on the screen of my MacBook. My notebook sits open to the left of my laptop, my coffee mug and water bottle sit to the right (hydration is key on late night tangos with schoolwork), and i keep my charger close in anticipation of the impending death of my laptop’s battery. My snacks are in the most accessible pocket to keep my stomach content. All this is taking place in, what I like to think is a cubicle desk. A desk in the middle of the library that has mini-walls around it to act as blinders to the student who is easily distracted by the outside world. I have all this down to a science.

From reading this, one would assume that this is a reoccurring theme in my college career.  Well… they have assumed correctly. I have been to this rodeo multiple times and I am not proud to admit it. As you are probably wondering “why would this guy put himself through this?”, I wonder the exact same thing. 

At this point, you think back to the moment when this/these paper(s) were assigned by your professor. “Gosh! I should have just knocked this out weeks ago!”. This is something I continually yell at myself as I’m knocking back swigs of coffee and watch the clock go from 11 p.m to 3 a.m with nothing to show for it. 

Nothing has made turning in a freshly printed copy of that 10 page research paper on some random congressman feel so sweet like four mugs of coffee, sunken eyes, and heavy eye-lids. 

I wrote this to share my experience with allnighters and procrastination to look at it in a more humorous light and laugh about how frustrating it was that I actually stayed up all night (with the exception of a few bathroom, social media, and social breaks) and cranked out a paper. Whether it’s late night or all night, these situations are easily avoidable if we take out the common denominator… procrastination.