Running on Caffeine

There’s something almost poetic about the way finals week turns every campus into a buzzing, sleep-deprived ecosystem held together by caffeine and sheer willpower. The library lights stay on later, group chats get louder, and suddenly everyone is clutching a cup of something—anything—that might keep their eyes from drooping over their laptops.

For decades, coffee has been the unofficial mascot of this academic chaos. But a new study from Grand Canyon University suggests that things are shifting in ways most of us didn’t even notice happening. Sure, coffee is still beloved, but the caffeine landscape on campus has gotten… complicated.

According to GCU’s findings, one in four students now leans on energy drinks as their primary caffeine source. And here’s the part that made me pause: nearly 40% of students are tag-teaming their caffeine, mixing two or more sources in a single day. Coffee before the morning exam. An energy drink before a study session. Maybe a soda at midnight when the “I’ll just skim this chapter” turns into “I have 62 pages left.”

When the pressure to perform tightens its grip, the nights get later, the days get shorter, and your brain insists on remembering every TikTok you’ve seen this month instead of your chemistry notes, you start looking for anything that might sharpen the edges of your focus.

In college, caffeine is often less of a casual preference, but more of an absolute necessity. Younger students tend to reach for energy drinks, craving that fast, intense jolt that feels like flipping a switch. Older students often stick with coffee, using it as a ritual, a rhythm, a little anchor in the storm. And the students mixing their caffeine sources? They’re often the ones carrying the heaviest loads, with jobs, families, full schedules, and expectations stacked on expectations.

But no matter the drink of choice, the reasoning is eerily similar: we’re borrowing energy our bodies don’t naturally have to give. Everyone is pushing, stretching, hoping their brains hold out just a little longer.

Today’s academic environment demands more stamina, more focus, and more hours than a human body was really designed for. So while caffeine may help students survive finals week, I nudge everyone to consider a bigger question—what do students really need to thrive?

Maybe fewer all-nighters. Maybe more support. Maybe a culture that values rest as much as results. Hopefully, we'll get there one day.

But for now? It’s finals week. The campus is humming. And somewhere, a student is cracking open their second (or third) can of caffeine for the day, trying their best to make it all the way to the last exam. And honestly… I’ve been there. Haven’t we all?

Finals week has this way of turning the most composed student into a sleep-deprived cryptid haunting the quiet corners of the library. And every time I talk about the chaos of finals, I’m reminded of my personal low point. Or high point? Depends on how you judge these things.

It was my junior year, and I’d convinced myself I could survive on determination, flashcards, and whatever liquid caffeine I could find in my backpack. One night—well, “night,” it was basically morning—I decided to power through an entire sociology textbook in one sitting. I set up camp in our dorm lounge with my color-coded notes, three highlighters, and this bizarre confidence that I was about to achieve academic transcendence.

By 3 a.m., I had built a small fortress of snack wrappers around myself. At 4 a.m., I started giving houseplants motivational speeches. (“You’re thriving, and so am I,” I whispered to a droopy pothos.) At 5 a.m., I was genuinely convinced I was inventing a new study method that future generations would name after me. Spoiler: I was not.

When the sun finally came up, I walked into my exam looking like a Victorian ghost who had unfinished business with group projects. Did I ace the test? Shockingly … yes. Did I immediately go home and sleep for 14 hours straight, missing two texts, a club meeting, and someone knocking on my door to return a book they had borrowed? Also yes.

So trust me when I say this: the finals-week frenzy is temporary, but the stories last forever. Whether you’re whispering encouragement to a plant or stress-eating pretzels at 1 a.m., you’re going to make it through, and you'll probably laugh about it later.

Wishing all the students out there good luck on their final exams, and when you're done ... GET SOME REST! You’ve earned every blissful, glorious second of it.