You know the drill: you eat an apple every day and legend has it that you never have to go to the doctor ever again. While I’m a big fan of apples and all of their super fruit-like qualities, including a natural energy-boost that comes along with eating one, I still think the “superpower” reputation should be held by coffee.

On behalf of all college students, I’d like to thank coffee for keeping us awake and for keeping us away from psychiatrists. There are numerous numbers of times when drinking a 16-ounce cup of liquid courage has saved me from absolutely losing my mind. This includes mornings following typical all-nighters, studying, to those days where you just don’t seem to have pep in your step… coffee gives that to you. Besides that, coffee brings people together! How many times have you seen people go to an apple shop and share delightful banter over apples? I hope not too often…or ever…

Even after hearing people give their best argument attempting to convince me that coffee is bad, still, to me, the good will always outweigh the bad. Any college student in a hard major will tell you that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do the things that need to be done. For this reason, some time is borrowed from sleep. The only problem with borrowing time from sleep is without coffee, your body will go to sleep on its own. If I had a dollar for every time that coffee has kept me awake at night so I can get done what needs to be done, and for every time that coffee has perked me up in the morning after said “late night,” then I’d have enough money to drop out of college and live comfortably on my own.

Here’s the way I look at it: I can either get a lot of sleep every night and do poorly in school or sleep less and do better in my classes. Of course though, I know that caffeine is a drug; I’m sure I’m not the only one that gets a headache in the afternoon without having my morning coffee. One time, I decided to see if I even could stop drinking it if I wanted to, and while that lasted for a mere 11 days (longer than I thought, to be honest), I realized that I didn’t want to do that! I take coffee as it is—the goods, the bads, the uglies. I love having my daily coffee(s) and I love knowing that if I have a late night ahead of me, I won’t stress out as much because I know coffee will keep me up, and it will keep me focused.

So yes, if you’re concerned about the drug-like nature of caffeine, my advice would be to not start drinking coffee in the first place. But if you’re a college kid with a tough major, it will be your saving grace. Once you’re hooked, you’re hooked for life… but I wouldn’t have it any other way. *sheds silent tear as I take a sip of coffee*