As a college student, I am familiar with the classic all-nighter, especially around midterms and final exams. You have so many things to study, write, read, review and do, plus you have to work or intern and go to your club meetings on campus. It's almost as if there isn't enough time to even consider sleeping.
Don't get me wrong, I love to sleep. I've never been a fan of staying awake for long, continuous stretches and have only done it a few times. Unfortunately, I recently had one of these stressful weeks which caused me to lose sleep. During this time, I learned quite a lot about what it's like to pull an all-nighter. Here's what I experienced while staying up all night and into the next day while working hard as a college student:
1. When you realize how much you have to do in such a limited time...:
Why sleep when you can find the answers you need for your exam?
2. ...So you decide right off the bat to make it official:
And then you proceed to tell everyone in the hope of finding someone to join you. 3. This is how you respond when your bestie/roomie asks why you're pulling an all-nighter:
It always seems like a good idea going into it.
4. Then they ask "Oh no you had coffee and it's 10 p.m., how much did you drink?" Your response:
You're probably bouncing around and shaking from extreme caffeine intake.
5. Then you really get down to business and work (because you really have no choice at this point):
You're actually a little surprised how productive you are when you have no choice but to get things done.
6. But then you hit a wall of tiredness and instant regret for your decision to work throughout the night:
You're probably rubbing your eyes, splashing water on your face, or doing jumping jacks just to stay conscious.
7. So you pump yourself up to stay awake by doing stuff like this:
Time for some fun music and a dance break to pump yourself up again.
8. Which leads to you saying stuff like this:
Along with things like "what is sleep" or "team no sleep."
9. Then things start to get weird and you're amused by everything because you're so overtired:
Except you're not nearly as put together as our dear Princess Snow White here - you really look wild and wretched.
10. You realize that it's a new day and you have a new agenda of things to do, people to see, and places to be:
Now comes the fun part of staying awake for another full day!
11. The caffeine isn't enough and this is what you end up doing this in your morning class:
Cue the head-bobbing and excessive yawning.
12. This is how you respond when people ask how you're doing later on in the day:
It's all your body and mind can manage in conversation right now.
13. This is probably what you like near the end of it all:
PSA: All-nighter ain't pretty, folks.
14. Because all you really want to do is this:
You've been looking forward to the sweet release of sleep and your bed for over 24 hours now. Just go to bed already!
Best of luck to those who may have to pull an all-nighter for finals or other projects. Remember to only do so if absolutely necessary!
