The 5 Stages Of An All-Nighter | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

The 5 Stages Of An All-Nighter

What is this "8 hours" you speak of?

22
The 5 Stages Of An All-Nighter
Pexels

Bags are packed.

Textbooks are shoved in closets.

Cries no longer echo in the library.

Finals have ended, and us college students could not be happier.

Every year, millions of students suffer from a terrible case of Final Examengitis. It’s a terrible condition, plaguing its young victims with coffee induced jitters, deteriorating physical appearance, and a psychological tendency to procrastinate. However, the worst symptom by far is the extreme lack of sleep, commonly known as 'all-nighters,' which cause those with Final Examengitis to value finishing school work over the necessary human function of sleep. How do we stop this terrible disease, you ask? The first step is awareness. Here's a little lowdown of what happens in that library from the hours of 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.

First Stage: Denial of Impending Doom

Sally Studious waltzes into the library confidently around 9 p.m. She has a 10-page paper due by 8 a.m. She wholeheartedly believes she can bang this out in no time at all. She even told her roommates to wait for her before watching the next episode of "Black Mirror," because she expects to be done “no later than one.” Two pages per hour? “Psh, child’s play," she thinks as she pulls up her favorite happy-go-lucky Spotify playlist. Oh Sally, you poor idiot.

Second Stage: Panic of Realization

As midnight rolls around and only two and a half pages are done, Sally now realizes the gravity of her situation. She has written everything she knows about the subject, and there are still eight pages to go. She begins to panic, and calculates that at this rate, she won't even be done in time to turn it in. And she will definitely not make it back in time to watch "Black Mirror." Might want to get comfy, Sally.

Third Stage: Emotional Instability

Around 3 a.m., Sally looks at six pages she has done. She begins to laugh. Not a cute, carefree laugh, but one of those laughs that come about to just keep yourself from crying. She begins to think everything is funny. Before she knows it, she herself is the comedian and every thought of hers begins to resemble those of a comedic genius. She breaks open the Snapchat and Facebook and begins to post what she thinks to be the greatest status updates and pictures the world has ever seen. This stage has been a baffling one but many believe the feigned hilarity may be due to the popular mixture of pure exhaustion, caffeinated drinks, and cat videos. Sally begins to think, “Why is no one awake to witness how funny I am right now?” Because they were smarter than you, Sally.

Fourth Stage: Desperation

The sun is beginning to rise, and Sally realizes she only has eight pages done. Out of those eight pages, only four are actually bearable to read. Out of those four, she only really understands one of them. Time is running out, and yet there is still so much work left to do. After a shot of 5 Hour Energy, she opens as many tabs on Google Scholar that her computer will allow and searches for anything else with just a hint of relevance to her topic. Her eyes begin to water as she glues them to her keyboard. Don’t cry Sally, you can do this.

Fifth Stage: Emergence

7:50 a.m. has arrived.

Students are walking about, coffee shops are brewing their morning roasts, and Sally has managed to pull together a full nine pages with one sentence trailing onto a tenth page. She looks at the time, attempts to freshen her breath, and runs to class to turn into her paper. She may look homeless to her fellow classmates, but little do they know that she is a survivor of yet another case of Final Examengitis.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
girl with a hat

This is for the girls who have dealt with an emotionally, mentally, physically or verbally abusive father.

The ones who have grown up with a false lens of what love is and how relationships should be. The ones who have cried themselves to sleep wondering why he hurts you and your family so much. This is for all the girls who fall in love with broken boys that carry baggage bigger than their own, thinking it's their job to heal them because you watched your mother do the same.

Keep Reading...Show less
Blair Waldorf Quote
"DESTINY IS FOR LOSERS. IT'S JUST A STUPID EXCUSE TO WAIT FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN INSTEAD OF MAKING THEM HAPPEN." - BLAIR WALDORF.

The world stopped in 2012 when our beloved show "Gossip Girl" ended. For six straight years, we would all tune in every Monday at 9:00 p.m. to see Upper Eastside royalty in the form of a Burberry headband clad Blair Waldorf. Blair was the big sister that we all loved to hate. How could we ever forget the epic showdowns between her and her frenemy Serena Van Der Woodsen? Or the time she banished Georgina Sparks to a Christian summer camp? How about that time when she and her girls took down Bart Bass? Blair is life. She's taught us how to dress, how to be ambitious, and most importantly, how to throw the perfect shade.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

11 Moments Every College Freshman Has Experienced

Because we made it, and because high school seniors deserve to know what they're getting themselves into

381
too tired to care

We've all been there. From move-in day to the first finals week in college, your first term is an adventure from start to finish. In honor of college decisions coming out recently, I want to recap some of the most common experiences college freshmen experience.

1. The awkward hellos on move-in day.

You're moving your stuff onto your floor, and you will encounter people you don't know yet in the hallway. They live on your floor, so you'll awkwardly smile and maybe introduce yourself. As you walk away, you will wonder if they will ever speak to you again, but don't worry, there's a good chance that you will make some great friends on your floor!

Keep Reading...Show less
laptop
Unsplash

The college years are a time for personal growth and success. Everyone comes in with expectations about how their life is supposed to turn out and envision the future. We all freak out when things don't go exactly as planned or when our expectations are unmet. As time goes on, we realize that the uncertainty of college is what makes it great. Here are some helpful reminders about life in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Lessons I Learned My Freshman Year

The first year of college opens your eyes to so many new experiences.

66
johnson hall
Samantha Sigsworth

Recently I completed my freshman year of college, and boy, what an experience. It was a completely new learning environment and I can't believe how much I learned. In an effort to save time, here are the ten biggest lessons I learned from my first year of college.

1. Everyone is in the same boat

For me, the scariest part of starting school was that I was alone, that I wouldn't be able to make any friends and that I would stick out. Despite being told time and time again that everyone had these same feelings, it didn't really click until the first day when I saw all the other freshman looking as uneasy and uncomfortable as me. Therefore, I cannot stress this enough, everyone is feeling as nervous as you.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments