A Date with Caffine

Every high school student has pulled an all-nighter before. When you've got an English essay that you've procrastinated on or a history project that you put off until the last minute, then it's time to plug in the coffee maker and sit in front of the laptop.

College is different. Not only do the teachers stop nagging about the project deadline coming up, but you haven't been watching the new episodes of Orange is the New Black or spending your free time watching cat videos on YouTube. You've been working hard every day up until now and it's time to work harder. Plus you don't have a coffee brewer in your dorm. Man, that sucks.

Let's start from the top. The morning began with an extra special quiz on Excel. Yawns echoed through the lecture hall as all the students stayed up studying the different font formats and styles. There were not time for breaks. Afterwards, we split into two groups, one joining Mark for another Excel lesson while the other joined in with Reneta. Everyone jolted out of their seats when 11:30 hit. It was lunchtime, but the activities didn't stop there. Those who had plans of working in the lab or catching up on a nap had to cross their plans off because there was a lunch assignment planned. Mark paired everyone up with a different group, and we had one hour to eat and learn enough about the other person to give a speech about them when we returned to class. Luckily, I got paired with Olivia Tataseo, the girl who lives right down the hall and one of the first people I met at Cornell. I got to meet her groupmates as well which was an extra plus. But the agenda didn't end there. The groups switched and Reneta gave a lesson on the mathematics that came with management. The entire class period was filled with droopy eyes and falling heads. Everyone was dead tired from the studying last night, but we knew what was to come.

Shanti and I after the work session.

After the lecture, we went into the bin lab to write our reports. Everyone got right to editing and typing when they set foot into the lab, trying to get most of their five page report out of the way. Just when we finished the formatting, it was time for another lecture. Everyone sat in the room, anxious for what was to come. Another quiz? We hoped not. We went over the schedule for the upcoming days because while students in the other programs got their Friday off, the Hotelies had a meeting with a guest lecturer. After the discussion and a video about hospitality, we returned to the bin lab where the computers awaited. 

It was a dreadful night, filled with frustrated screams and exhausted teens. Everyone was already worked thin from the long week, and now there was a five page report to complement the tough week. A lot of coffee went into the room that evening. We didn't have our own brewer, but if you got to the library early enough, you could get yourself a cup for the night.

I knew college was going to be tough, but I never would have expected this degree of work. The workload is possible, but it's an enormous jump from high school.