It's a nice dream, a restful bout of sleep after a night of sitting hunched over my laptop screen, typing out words and creating pages in Microsoft documents against the knowledge that any sane person would be asleep by 3 a.m., especially when she has a class in six hours. It's a needed sleep, meant to rejuvenate and refresh me for the day ahead, filled with sugar plums galore.

Wake up, reach my fist to rub at my eyes. Something about the morning already seems wrong, weird, off. What day is it? Where am I? What time is it?

What time is it?

The most important question, followed by the realization that I woke up by my own accord, without the shrill beeping that normally greets me each morning. After fumbling, twisting in my knot of a blanket, I press the button on my phone and the screen lights up. Seven different snapchats from streaks, just as expected, a notification warning me that expected traffic was moving slower than normal due to rain and fog, and a text from Aubrey asking "Where are you???"

I am late.

While I lie in bed, sleeping away minutes of class time, my classmates take notes and review the assigned reading due today in preparation for our upcoming research paper. I wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth and listen to the water running while my suitemate takes a shower, disoriented and questioning how I even woke up at all when none of my alarms managed to rouse me. I am late, and I never miss class.

For many students, it may not seem all too big of an issue - it happens, and I understand that life will go on as normal. My professor will not fail me for the semester because I happened to miss one class on this particularly foggy and miserable morning, and missing this one Wednesday morning class will not be the reason I don't get a job years down the line. But that doesn't mean that I necessarily feel good about the situation.

In fact, I pride myself on stellar attendance, punctuality, and I know the importance of attending class each session. A lot can happen in a singular day, after all. A new assignment, a piece of information I would never know otherwise, and those coveted participation points remain ripe for the taking. No, it's not the end of the world and I need to move on, but my entire day already feels like I'm a step behind. I didn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed, because I didn't wake up at all.

But there are more classes, other priorities to be attended to. Get up, get dressed quickly. Have a chance to eat an apple and pack my bag. Don't panic. A deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth, and it's time to start the rest of the day and make it count.