The 8 a.m.: A College Student's Worst Decision
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I get up in the dark at 6:58 a.m. Yeah; it’s early. It is possibly one of the most ungodliest hours to need to be up and about, getting ready for the day. So why am I up? Because fate is cruel and the class was open.
I’m talking, of course, about the 8 a.m.
I am 100% not a morning person. I’m barely even an early afternoon person. I function better when I’ve slept in late and can make myself a decent cup of coffee which usually doesn’t happen when I get up for an early class. This is why I get up just a little over an hour before my class; because in the morning, those two extra minutes really do make a difference as I sleep walk through my dorm room, gathering what I need for the rest of the day and pulling on clothes with my eyes still half-shut. Based on observing many of my fellow classmates in my 8 a.m., they aren’t morning people either and got up and dressed in the same mode I did.
However, there are some classes that I have to take. And because the day given to me to register for classes affects the class times still open, I take what I can get and what I need to take, even if every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:58 in the morning I curse myself when my alarm goes off. What makes matters worse is that I’ve done this to myself not once before, but of my four semesters in college, in three of them I’ve taken an 8 a.m. class. Now, some are better than others; a big lecture class at that time in the morning where the teacher doesn’t expect participation is bearable and tolerable. However, a smaller lecture or recitation is just awful. The silence that greets the professor or TA when they try to get people engaged in discussion or answering questions is pretty loud and more than a little uncomfortable. I had one TA who was trying so hard to get people to raise their hands and get involved and failing at that after a few minutes, asked in good humor, “How many of you are tired?” Everyone’s hand shot up.
That early in the morning, most college students–assuming they show up to their class–are present, but they’re not really there. Their brains are still on snooze and they’re thinking about the warm comfort of their bed. I know I am. So if you have to make a choice between taking an 8 a.m. or another class at a later time, do yourself a favor and choose the later time. But if you want to do me a favor, pick the 8 a.m.; this way the other class time will be open and I can sign up for that. Because if I can help it, this semester’s 8 a.m. class will be the last I take.