The 8 AM Conundrum

Let’s be real here. Nobody wants to take an 8 am. Ever. They’re absolute hell and exam days tend to be the one day that you sleep in on accident (I can attest to this). How do you navigate these courses, and is there any way to make them any better? Like, at all? The answer is…kind of! As a seasoned veteran of taking 8 AM’s from freshman year all the way to senior year, I have learned a few helpful tips along the way that have drastically helped me.

First off, account for the time where you know you’re going to be lying in bed once your alarm goes off. For me, it’s roughly 30 minutes. I never want to leave my bed in the morning because I have invested so much into a good mattress pad and a million pillows, so it gets to be a real personal battle every morning. By accounting for those minutes though, you’re able to set your alarm back 30 minutes (or whatever your time is) so that you have ample time to still get ready. Nobody likes rushing to get ready, especially when you know you’re already late. I’m fairly stress-prone and I have to say that this tactic has really helped me with my time management.

One of my biggest issues in the morning tends to be the fact that I need some source of caffeine before/during my 8 AM otherwise I will fall asleep while sitting in the back of the classroom. (Side note: sitting in the back during your 8 AM class is a very good idea. I do it every time.) I used to rely on Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts a lot as a freshman and a sophomore, but I quickly realized it sucked my bank account dry and their drive-thru lines were never short, causing me more internal stress that I don’t need at 7:40 in the morning. My solution to this was to make my iced coffee/cold brew the night before, keep it in the fridge overnight, and then in the morning all I needed to do was add my sweetener and milk of choice and I was good to go. I still follow this to this day- it works so much better for me and the amount of money I have saved is actually kind of sad to think about.

There is always going to be that one student who looks like they’re heading to a movie set at 8 AM. I promise you…no matter how badly you like to dress up and look good, you do not need to do that at 8 AM on your college campus. Half of the students in your class are wearing shorts and a tee-shirt and the other half are probably still internally sleeping. If you struggle with getting up early in the morning do not try and add on the extra stress of dressing up if you can’t deal with it. It’s okay to wear shorts and a tee-shirt. This is a college class, not a Fortune 500 interview! Don’t feel bad about yourself or less confident just because of what you have on, save your best outfits for the bar that night instead.

Sometimes you can’t avoid taking an 8 AM class. Almost every student will have one in their life, so I encourage you to manage it in the way that best suits your needs- not anyone else’s. Plus, practice makes perfect. You will sleep through a class at least once. It will happen. That’s okay! Just consider it to be a part of the all-encompassing “college experience.”