Let's be real. Insomnia sucks. Like really sucks. I know, I know. I too struggle to sleep most nights, but hey, sometimes you have to look on the bright side! Here are some perks to being an insomniac:

1. 2am paper? No problem

If you're like me, a master procrastinator, you know the art of a 2am paper. This is a paper that you've put off writing so long that you're forced to write it at 2am the morning it is due. Luckily for us insomniacs, we are up at 2am anyway. Late night papers are our specialty. I write most of my Odyssey articles at 4am the day its due because I put them off that far (Shhh don't tell my editor).

2. Nobody else is awake at 3am

My favorite part about not being able to sleep is that when you're awake late at night, no one else is. I'm violently introverted and there's nothing like wandering up and down the dorm hallways with just my underwear on at 3am without being afraid of running into someone. The world is so quiet. My dad and I both agree that 3am is the best time of the day except he wakes up at 3am while I'm just starting to get into bed at that time. Let's just say going home on breaks is awkward when we run into each other in the kitchen late at night, he starting one day and I just ending another.

3. Late night walks

Besides walking up and down the dorm halls in my underpants, taking late night walks outside is amazing. The world late at night is a world I would take over daytime anytime. Nobody is out, the stars are shining, the moon is rising, all the buildings are empty. The world feels big at night, it feels like its just yours. And you also realize that night really isn't that dark after all. Go somewhere without streetlights or houselights and the night opens up. Maybe we are nocturnal? At least I am.

4. You get a lot of things done

The adept insomniac knows to get up and out of bed on those nights you can't sleep; it's a waste of time and energy to lay there and thrash against your sheets. The best thing to do is to keep yourself busy. My favorite things to do are read books, get homework assignments done that are due weeks in advance, write books, try to find the cure for the common cold, etc. I've gotten a lot of things done on those nights I don't sleep. Embrace it, don't fight it.

5. Being tired is more tolerable

Sometimes people ask me what my trick is to staying awake during the day after I haven't slept the whole night before. They say, "how are you not tired?" And to that I laugh and say maniacally, "That's just it, I'M ALWAYS TIRED." But I know how to handle it. I used to be addicted to coffee, but I've since quit and I've realized that I don't need it to keep me awake. How do I stay awake? I'm not sure actually, that's a really good question. Sometimes I slap myself. Sometimes I don't stay awake and I take naps during the day (which, yes, I know doesn't help my sleep schedule any blah blah blah. I know, save me the lecture). I eat a lot of food too, that helps. I don't know, being tired has just become tolerable.

6. Netflix bingeing

You can binge watch so many episodes of your favorite show on nights you don't sleep. I've finished many TV shows on the nights I don't sleep. They say that the light that is emitted from phone and laptop screens keeps your eyes open and your brain awake but oh well.

7. You literally get to see the moon set

Nothing is tripper than watching the moon set. I don't know why, perhaps its because humans aren't supposed to be awake late enough to watch the moon set in the sky, but when you see it, it feels like magic. Like it's not supposed to be happening. Sure, we see the sun rise and set all the time, but the moon is something different all together. Try it out sometime, it'll blow your mind.

8. The best ideas come in the haze of exhaustion

I can't explain this one, but it's true. I always save my poetry class homework for late nights because I write the best then. Words seem so much better under the light of the moon, and I get the best ideas when I'm trying to keep my eyes awake. Got writer's block? Stay up all night, that'll fix it right away. I think some of the best books were written at night. Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying in one night (but it's really not that good, sorry Will).

9. Wal-Mart is the best at 3am

This one also throws me for a curve ball. There's something about Wal-Mart at night that makes it an enchanted place. It might be because no one else is there and most of the goods are picked over, either way, the best time to go to Wal-Mart is at ridiculous times of the night. Sometimes my friends and I go get 2am cheesecake at Walmart and sit awkwardly on the benches just inside the doors.