Nowadays, caffeine becomes more critical than water as an everyday intake for college students to keep them awake. Whether they need to be awake to complete a long paper or to study all night for an exam, most turn to caffeine. The choices for caffeine are also abundant; a strong black coffee at the beginning of the day, a cup of tea in the sleepy afternoon, or an energy drink before work. So among all these caffeine drinks, what kind in particular do students turn to the most to keep them awake and ready for anything?

       

Zhuoyue Hao, a sophomore majoring in Finance, drinks coffee whenever she feels tired. She stated, “I drink coffee because it is the strongest caffeine beverage.” Jiangnan Mao, who is a sophomore and majors in Finance, also chooses coffee, because other caffeine drinks that are sold in school, for example, tea and energy drinks, do not have any effect on her. Sophomore, Mengxian Huang, majoring in Communication, also turns to coffee as her caffeine fix. “I like to drink black coffee because it has a function to fix a puffy face as well,” Huang said.

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Similar to the other interviewees, Siwei Wang, a sophomore aerospace engineering major, also chooses coffee, because making coffee at home is very convenient and he has started to make coffee by himself since he was in high school. Even though the reasons are different, most people like to get coffee, instead of other drinks, to help them stay awake.

       

However, some people don't take coffee at all. Junior, biology major, Bailey Meredith is one of many who dislikes coffee. Meredith stated, “I much rather enjoy a cup of hot chocolate than coffee. It warms me up and is delicious.” Ariel Watson, a junior Accounting and Finance major, can agree to Meredith’s statement because hot chocolate is also her go-to drink when she feels tired.

       

Tea can be popular for those who do not drink coffee. Divid Zhou, a senior Environmental Science major, likes to drink tea because he thinks that tea tastes much better than coffee. Yulun Han, a sophomore student who is majoring in Finance, has never drunk caffeinated drinks because she is allergic to them. Han said, “If I feel sleepy when I have a lot of work to do, I will get some rest first and then get up to do the work.” She also goes to bed early and gets up early during the weekdays to make sure that she has enough energy and time to study. Therefore, she never needs caffeine.

       

Even though caffeine is good to awake certain people, it’s not good for a human’s brain, heart or stomach, especially for young people whose body is still growing. There is no doubt that college life is busy and stressful, but if everyone can prepare more for a day full of work beforehand then maybe less students would need to intake caffeine.