Enough isn’t quite enough

COMMENTARY: Finals week woes.

It’s all about the coffee. Finals week just doesn’t happen for me if I can’t have my fill on a medium light-roast with room for cream and sugar (preferably vanilla creamer). With a journalism degree, finals week isn’t always about cramming for exams and remembering all the little details. It is, however, ALWAYS about projects, interviews and papers galore. Trying to find a way to keep my eyes open in the middle of a 2,000-word essay used to be more of a struggle than writing the actual paper. But then I found coffee.

I’m more of a sweet-coffee drinker — I can’t stand the bitter taste of “black coffee, hold the cream.” Plus, the extra bit of sugar is a bonus in my efforts of staying lucid. Coffee is the perfect drink at absolutely any time of the day, before every final, and with any meal. Although, you have to be careful of how much you drink, otherwise you’ll find yourself leaving the test halfway through with an overly full bladder, and that can get embarrassing!

I suggest coffee to everyone reading this, and everyone I know, as a way to get through finals week. There really isn’t anything like a hot cup of wake-up with a splash of attention to be alert and ready for whatever finals week throws at you, especially — and I have no name for it — when I make a shot of espresso topped by a perfectly foamed mixture of sugar-free vanilla creamer and skim milk — no stir.

–Hannah VonGrey, for the Clarion