Hey, everyone! Here is the second installment of my coffee narrative. This one features the first day of class, 6 a.m. volleyball workouts, and my first hell week. Enjoy!

The weekend was over and the big day was here. Katelynn was about to take her next step into adulthood. This time she had gotten more than enough sleep, the weekend of welcome activities had tired her out pretty well, but she still felt the need.

“Do you want anything?” She asked her mom as they pulled into the Wawa parking lot.

“Just a coffee,” was her response.

Cool, a coffee for Mom, a coffee for me, but what kind of coffee do I want?

She hesitantly looked at all the taps with their flavor descriptions clinging to them. Finally, the cappuccino machine caught her eye.

“French vanilla, no, hazelnut, no, s’mores, no, hot chocolate… definitely no.” Katelynn sighed. Today was her first day of classes and she needed a coffee to get her through it, but was it worth being late on the first day because she couldn’t make up her mind?

Then she saw it. In the middle of the cappuccino machine, the black letters read the words “Mocha Wake-Up: Extra Caffeine.”

Katelynn grabbed herself a 24 oz cup, pressed the button and headed off to English Comp.

Fast forward to 6 a.m. volleyball workouts, the first Wednesday of the semester.

“Oh, my God. I feel so dead,” Katelynn yawned as she walked out of the fitness center. Her coach let her go early because she needed that half hour before her 8 a.m. class to look somewhat presentable.

It was clear that she could either shower or get coffee from the dining hall.

“I’m gonna shower now, be 'present' during my first two classes and then walk down into Penndel during chapel and get myself some Dunkin’.”

It was a plan many Cairn students had carried out before, and will continue to carry out for years to come. All nine free chapel skips are definitely worth coffee, and both English Comp and Intro to the Bible are lectures. Kate would survive.

She thought.

Just as she settled down into her unassigned assigned seat for English class, her phone buzzed. It was coach.

“Great morning workout, we are going to continue to do this every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that we do not have games. See you at practice at 3.”

The season lasted way too long for Katelynn to skip every chapel when she had morning workouts! Whatever would she do?

She contemplated her plan for the next two hours during class, and started walking towards chapel once 10 a.m. came. And then she walked out the front door, down the driveway and into Penndel to get herself a coffee. She’d figure something out for the rest of the days, but today, she’d surely die without it.

Fast forward to Starry Night, Cairn’s Christmas Celebration.

It's officially hell week. Katelynn has procrastinated on the biggest paper of the semester for her Bible class. It was about Philemon. She really doesn’t want to spend all night doing this paper, but she needed the grade.

“Can I have another coffee, please?” She resorted to finishing the paper in the cafe inside the recreation building, and was on her third coffee of the evening.

“I really need to finish my Philemon paper, but Starry Night is calling my name.” Despite the coffee that was filling her up, she was craving the homemade Christmas cookies and hot chocolate that awaited outside on the walkway for the celebration.

Another hour past, and as she took her last gulp of coffee, the five-page paper on a 24 verse book of the Bible was finished. She was free from her first hell week with only a total of about 10 coffees in the week. Next semester she’d procrastinate less, and cut down on her caffeine intake.

To be continued...