If there’s one thing that almost all college students can agree on, it’s that waking up in the morning is terrible, especially when you’re facing an 8:30 am class. There’s nothing worse than being jolted awake by a blaring alarm, and the earlier the alarm needs to be, the more intolerable it seems. Morning routines – dragging oneself out of bed, getting ready for the day, and going off to class – can range from being a mild annoyance to the worst part of the day. To get a clearer picture of what mornings can be like, several students shared their morning routines and how they spend the beginning of their day.
Several students have said that the only way that they can wake up in the morning is with the assistance of an alarm – or two, or three, or even four. Liz Roderick, a freshman psychology major, said that she needs two alarms – one with the actual time she needs to be awake, and one that goes off fifteen minutes in advance.
“This way, I can just sit in bed for that extra few minutes if I want, depending on how lazy I’m feeling.” Roderick adds.
In case of Liz’s roommate Katharine Dix, a freshman political science major, it’s at least three or four alarms to get her out of bed on time, and for some students the number can be even higher, including alarms set to just go off at fifteen-minute intervals. The earlier the class, the more alarms seem to be needed – there’s no feeling in the world worse than looking at your clock and realizing that your first class starts in ten minutes.
However, outside of the amount of alarms set, there seems to be little variation in morning routines, whether male or female, freshman or senior. After all, everyone has the same basic list of things to do – get dressed, brush teeth, grab breakfast if there’s time, cram in one last round of studying or finish off one last procrastinated assignment, and then make it to class on time. It’s that last step that can effect a morning just as much as the time of your class – getting to Bey Hall, for example, at the far end of campus, is almost double the distance of Wilson.
Another thing that can influence someone’s morning routine is when their homework is done. If you are the type of person who waits until the last minute to do homework, finishing assignments moments before you need to leave for class, chances are you’ll have to wake up quite a bit earlier than someone who finished their assignments the night before.
What seems to be the worst part of the morning is the action of forcing oneself out of bed to face the day. According to Dix, she sets herself three alarms, although she waits until the last one to actually get up.
“I usually just kind of sit up in bed and force myself to accept the fact that it’s daytime,” Dix said. “And acknowledge that I have to do stuff now.” The difficulty of that moment seems to vary based on the time of one’s first class. It’s a lot easier to wake up for an 11:30 class than it is for one that starts at 8:30.”
Everything that follows that brutal wakeup call is a simple morning routine, whether you’re taking your time to look nice, rushing to get ready or rolling out of bed in sweats. From the three people spoken to, two freshmen and one senior, there is little variation in the routine, showing that, outside of a few factors, many people seem to schedule their mornings in the exact same way, preparing for the rest of the day. So when you’re waking up in the morning, struggling to get out of bed, wipe the crust out of your eyes and prepare for the day ahead. Knowing that everyone else is suffering the same makes things a little easier too.
PHOTO COURTSEY of huffingtonpost.com.
