As the second semester starts to drag by and morning classes start to take a toll, one way to stay awake in your classes is by drinking coffee. However, getting started with drinking coffee can be hard at first. I used to hate coffee until I was forced to drink it last semester because of my morning class. Now I don’t know how to survive without it. Here are some tips on how to get started with drinking coffee.

1. Drink a light roasted coffee.

When you first start drinking coffee, you should start out with a light roasted coffee. You should never start out with a strong coffee, especially if you're not used to the bitter taste. Not all coffees are as bitter as others. A light roasted coffee may still taste bitter, it just won’t be as strong as if you drank coffee like Starbucks black coffee.

2. Add cream and sugar.

One of the ways that I was able to start drinking coffee was through using cream and sugar. I kept putting cream and sugar in the coffee until I could no longer taste the bitterness. There are also tons of different flavors of creamer that you can choose from. Some of my favorites are pumpkin spice, french vanilla, and hazelnut! Also, in my opinion, Dunkin' Donuts has the best creamer in their coffee! So if you want a sweet coffee, you can try going to Dunkin' Donuts.

If you don’t wish to use creamer, I’ve heard that some people use Swiss Miss hot chocolate as a creamer. Whatever helps you to mask the taste of coffee will help you eventually get to where you can drink coffee without the use of creamers or hot chocolate mix.

3. Try drinking frappuccinos.

Frappuccinos are another form of caffeine that made me start loving coffee! Starbucks has all different types of frappuccinos that are all addicting! Just make sure that there is coffee in the frappuccino. Don't be like me where you think that you're drinking coffee when you're really just drinking cream, milk, and flavoring.

One downside to drinking frappuccinos is that they have a lot of sugar, which can make them a little too addicting. If you don’t want to be consuming too much sugar, you can ask for skim milk which will help lessen the calories and sugar.

4. Gradually lessen the amount of cream and sugar.

If you want to eventually get to where you can drink coffee black, you can try putting less sugar and milk in your coffee each time you get used to the taste. Just gradually lessen the amount of sugar or milk that you add to where you can wean yourself into drinking coffee black. This isn’t easy, but if you're up for the task then go ahead and try it!

5. Upgrade to a latte.

Lattes are just espressos with cream and sugar. If you want to upgrade to a latte, don’t try Starbucks lattes first unless you actually find that you like their lattes. In my experience, Starbucks lattes are very strong. When I tried their latte when I was trying to get used to drinking coffee, it caused me to get really nauseous. Many people have reported the same experience. However, everyone has different tastes, so unless you try it yourself and decide you like it, then I advise trying your first latte from somewhere else.

6. Start drinking iced coffee.

Iced coffee can be a good coffee drink to start out with. Just make sure you put lots of cream and sugar in it. I couldn’t get myself to start with iced coffee, but I’ve heard of a lot of people who started to like coffee from iced coffee.

So, if you find that you're tired in the morning and drinking soda or energy drinks isn’t cutting it, try drinking coffee and see if it helps. There are tons of different types of coffees that you can start with, and there is no one type of coffee that will work for everyone. So go to Starbucks, a coffee shop, or the grocery and find your own type of coffee that you enjoy!