By Dylan Valic
Features Editor
Take a look around campus and students will probably notice them – in the hands of their peers, on desks and piles of them in the garbage cans. They will see the white cup with the green mermaid staring back at them, and smell the beans roasting in the early morning. It’s the lifeblood of college students: coffee.
College students and coffee have long standing relationship. Coffee is there for students when they need to stay awake and focused during class. When faced with heavy workloads and limited time, coffee is always there to keep students energized.
Students on campus describe coffee as a necessity for their studies. “I would say it definitely helped a little bit academic wise because I started to need it in order to fuel myself to get through class,” Marc Guglielmo, a sophomore accounting major, said. “If I didn’t have [coffee] during class I can definitely see myself dozing off and not paying attention.”
Lauren Levine, a junior economics major, thinks of coffee not only as an academic tool, but also as an asset to her safety as well. Levine is a commuter, and drives upwards of 45 minutes to campus each day. Drinking coffee ensures that she won’t fall asleep behind the wheel.
An energy boost isn’t the only benefit that can be derived from coffee drinking. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, several studies have found that moderate coffee consumption can help prevent health issues such as cancer, type two diabetes, gall-stones and more.
Drinking coffee in moderation has several health benefits, but drinking too much of it has its drawbacks. Caffeine dependence can lead to negative effects once the energy from the drink wears off. Guglielmo says that he sometimes gets “energy crashes” where he doesn’t feel motivated to do anything once the effects of caffeine wear off. Other times, he can get headaches if he doesn’t drink at least one cup of coffee a day.
Despite its popularity, coffee isn’t the only drink to offer a quick pick-me-up. Grace Solomita, a masters student in the school counseling program, dislikes the smell and taste of coffee. So instead, she takes naps and exercises often maintain her energy.
Like most things, coffee can be good in moderation, but can have negative effects when taken in obsessive amounts. College students have a lot of responsibilities and obligations they need to fulfill, and a cup of coffee can come a long way in making sure they get done. It is important to remember the impact it can have on your health.
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