With my first year of college coming to an end, I’m left with ample time to reflect on this year’s passing. As clichéd as it sounds, there have been countless lessons I’ve learned both inside the classroom and out, truly irreplaceable friends I’ve made, and adventures I never thought I would go on. Despite the often picture-perfect façade outsiders see in the life of being a college student, there were occasionally some low moments that balanced out the good ones, and I would be lying if I said that stress, feelings of homesickness, and nostalgia for old friends didn’t occupy my thoughts now and again. However, throughout the occasional low moments, it’s the little things I’m thankful for that got me through every day.
After starting school at a university where I only knew a handful of people, I’m able to say with confidence that I can see that it doesn’t take much to turn someone’s day from a good one to a great one. Acts such as a smile and pleasant conversation with a stranger, a surprise package in the mail from a family member, a genuine hug from a friend, or a last-minute road trip to a random location for a night out are all recent experiences that have happened to me in the last weeks that I’m now looking back on and smiling about. An aspect of college that’s quite a cliché, but also that I’ve learned is quite often necessary, is coffee and the numerous benefits it brings. For many coffee drinkers, the popularity of coffee is a given, due to the taste of coffee and the stimulating effect of caffeine. While it may seem strange to focus on this seemingly insignificant feature of our lives, I hope that after reading this brief article, we can all take the time to appreciate these insignificant things in life a little more.
If you live anywhere near a college town, you’ve probably noticed that coffee shops both near and on campus are frequently still buzzing late into the evening. That’s because coffee houses are an integral part of student life, serving as a central destination where all types of people can congregate. A place to check in and unwind, catch up with friends or tune the world out, converse with intellectuals, or cram for exams – coffeehouses are the place to do it all. Recently, while standing in line for coffee myself at our campus library, a professor of mine mentioned to me how building a coffee shop on the town square was the smartest move the town has ever made in its efforts to revitalize itself – as it’s improved relations between the small town locals and the university students, and brought more people to the town square than ever before. Overall, the simple act of implementing coffee into a common location greatly improving the feel of community of an area, speaks volumes about the powerful impact coffee can have.
On a recent trip I took to Nicaragua in January, it was eye-opening to see the way coffee was intertwined with so many aspects of daily life. In Nicaragua, I learned, coffee is an absolute staple in almost everyone’s diet, far more so than in America. I can recall a local once telling me that he frequently drank over ten cups a day. During my month-long stay, coffee was the first thing we drank in the morning, the liquid we frequently drank throughout the day, and often the last thing we drank before bed. Upon returning to America, the coffee we drink every day seemed incomparable to the rich flavor we had grown accustomed to in Nicaragua. Despite there being so many different renditions of the drink, the ubiquity coffee has in almost every corner of the globe didn't stop it from proving to be an incredible aspect that bonded two cultures together.
Everyone knows coffee is best known for serving as a much-needed pick-me-up, whether it’s to give yourself more energy, increase motivation, or simply to stay awake. To me, what college students often forget to do when rushing to class or a lecture, guzzling their coffee as fast as possible, is to actually take the time to enjoy it. Whether you take yours with syrups, spices, cream, or shots of espresso, simply drinking it slowly to me is the best part of the entire experience. When I’m away from school and at home, easily one of the best parts of my daily routine is the time I spend alone, sipping a mug of warm vanilla coffee. So, in addition to the rush that caffeine brings, another reason to enjoy coffee is simply the ambiance it brings to any setting – if you take the time to let it.
In conclusion, I urge you to utilize coffee in more ways than just for yourself, as the coffee culture we live in truly brings with it an aspect of socialness. So, plan a coffee date, sip it over a shared meal, invite a neighbor or an old friend over for a cup, or just relax with your family over a large, freshly brewed pot. With our busy, electronic and technology-filled lives today, it can be easy to forget about connecting on a personal, face-to-face level with people. No matter how you view coffee, whether as a purely social interaction, or a personal relaxation, drinking coffee is an experience that I feel should be valued. Having drunk hundreds of cups myself this year, I’m thankful not only for the times it got me through periods of stress, but also for the memories it created with friends and family with every cup.
