With final weeks approaching, students are getting more stressed out. To score high in the finals, the most common strategy students use is to reduce their sleep hours to study for finals, and to keep them awake and being energetic for whole nights and for the several hours of the final exams, they would usually have either a cup of coffee or a can of energy drink in their hands.
While scientists in 2014 found the first evidence of caffeine’s memory-boosting effect, which means that drinks like espresso or energy drinks indeed have positive effects on the student's’ performance on finals, the negative effect of caffeine on student’s health is left undiscussed in the statement. What may happen after caffeine overdose? How much amount of caffeine does a person need to take to get caffeine overdose? Finally, is it really worth it to sacrifice personal health for a higher score?
The answer for the first two questions are pretty straightforward as the safe doses of caffeine are usually quoted at around 200 to 300 milligrams, or two to four cups of coffee per day, and any amount beyond that limit may cause side effects such as insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, stomach upsets, abnormally fast erratic heartbeat, muscle tremors, and in severe cases, seizures and death. In contrast to the answers for the first two questions, the answer for the last question is much more complex and the answers are varied by person, as some students are staying up to review to prevent themselves from failing classes, others are staying up reviewing because they feel the peer pressure or pressure from their parents.
According to a female student who graduated from UCLA several years ago, it was common for her to stay up overnight to prepare for her finals. To prevent herself from being distracted, the day before the final exam, she would stay in a hotel near her university, and she would drink two cans of red bulls to keep herself awake. One time after she had drank two cans of red bull, her hands were tremor so hard that she could not even put lead into the mechanical pencil. “It was both funny and scary, but as long as I got the grade I wanted after the exam, I think it worth it...By the way, red bull really helped me a lot. ” She said.
This student’s belief was not uncommon. A study in 2008 of undergraduates at a large public university has found that 39 percent of students had consumed at least one energy drink in the past month. According Kelsey Sipe, who is a senior in James Madison University, she wouldn’t survive nursing school without caffeine.
While it is usually being said that student life is the golden time of a person’s life, it is also true that there are a lot of pressure that students have to face, especially academic pressures, and sometimes, students need to choose between their health and their grades. While almost everyone knows the potential danger behind coffee and energy drinks, it is left for students to decide which one they would value more. Is it really worth it to sacrifice personal health for a higher score? Every student need to find their own answer.
