PARK: Daily caffeine consumption is quintessential collegiate rite of passage
Column: The Queue
I start my morning looking forward to hearing the Keurig brew. Coffee: It gets the best of us, regardless of if we like it or not. For college students, coffee is almost essential, whether it be to make it on time to early 8:30 a.m. classes or to stay up late at night.
Grabbing a coffee on my daily commute from my house to class is scheduled into my Google Calendar and so vital for me that if I do not start the morning with one, I am faced with a headache by the early afternoon.
Personally, I find myself up before 7 a.m. most mornings, so a caffeinated pick-me-up is a must. The triple shot of espresso over ice in my Starbucks order history taunts me as I see the stars racking up.
I started drinking coffee during the pandemic when I wanted to learn how to make espresso with my dad’s machine at home. From there, curiosity grew into an addiction — I do not like to admit it, but that is exactly what it is.
Balancing school, work and other priorities make it hard for students to get a full night of sleep every evening. Sometimes, I like to think of caffeine addiction as a rite of passage for college students. Oftentimes, a stimulant like caffeine is used to compensate for sleep. A 2021 study showed that college students consume an average of more than 800 milligrams of caffeine a day. This is double the recommended amount.
Luckily enough for us Rutgers students, there are plenty of places to get coffee. The beloved Starbucks and Panera Bread, both on the College Avenue campus, are my two most consistent options. Living off campus, I have found myself visiting Hidden Grounds often, too.
Grabbing coffee is not only an essential part of my day, but it is also a great way to catch up with friends. I personally do not have a lot of classes with my friends, so taking the time to see them during the day is usually an effort to be made. Sitting down and drinking a cup of coffee or tea is a cheap and efficient way to get increased social time with your friends during the day.
But the cost of caffeine is on the climb upward. At Starbucks, students can expect to be spending roughly $5 on a drink each time. The cost of Red Bull, Celsius or any other common energy drink is approximately $3 a pop. While I have my own coffee machine at home and buy jugs of cold brew from the supermarket, I still buy coffee a couple of times a week. It is purely out of convenience, but I am guilty of it.
Caffeine withdrawals are real, too. I find myself in a vicious cycle of wanting to decrease my caffeine intake and only increasing it more due to the withdrawal. With early morning practices and classes, caffeine keeps me going throughout my day, which does not end until past midnight. A dependency is something I never thought I would have to deal with, and I would not go as far as to say that it is, but caffeine definitely makes me a much happier and more productive person.
While watching how much I am consuming, coffee is a part of my college life now and for the foreseeable future. I was recently asked what gets me up in the morning, and I responded with the fact that I get to start my day with a new, fresh cup of coffee and the chance to tackle a brand-new day.
I am glad that I can positively integrate this addiction of mine into my daily routine at college and use it to better myself in terms of productivity and better my friendships by having conversations over coffee with friends. As college students, we may be dependent on caffeine, and we will reap the negative effects in the long run. But for now, I will gladly be reaching for my overpriced drink time and time again.
Annabel Park is a sophomore Rutgers Business School sophomore majoring in marketing and minoring in health administration. Her column, "The Queue," runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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