I consider myself a late-comer to the coffee movement; in high school, many of my friends would bring their brightly colored Hydroflasks into the first period, saying they were “die” without their morning coffee. I laughed it off and said something annoying like “omg lol me too no way,” but in reality, the most coffee I drank on a weekly basis was what was in the tester cup at Trader Joes, which was actually at least half full of half and half and sugar. But then college came.

My sleep schedule was not the best during my fall quarter of freshman year. Initially, I was confused why I couldn’t get up earlier than 7:45 AM to make it to my 8:00 a.m. class; I had no problem getting up at 6:30 a.m. every day during high school. But then I realized it was probably because I was regularly staying up until 2:00 a.m. either working, hanging out, or just up unable to sleep. Early on, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to mentally be in my 8:00 a.m. chemistry lecture without some sort of help. So I started drinking coffee.

Initially, I would start every morning with a mocha; the chocolate made the coffee taste so much better. It wasn’t until the end of fall quarter that I started drinking straight up coffee. This change wasn’t initiated by me getting used to the taste of coffee, or by wanting to cut down on calories, but it was because my daily five dollar coffee drinks were eating into my meal points, so I switched to the $2.50 regular coffee.

By now, winter quarter of my sophomore year, If I go without coffee during my morning classes, chances are I absorbed little to nothing from the lecture. But for me, drinking coffee is about so much more than just getting the caffeine. Going to get coffee is an excuse to go on an adventure.

Back home in Portland, I had a coffee shop for every mood. If I really needed to bust out some homework, I would go to the Grand Central Bakery up on Hawthorne. If I wanted to sit and journal or complete some sort of art project, I would head to Palios, just a few blocks from my house. And if I wanted to just sit and read, or grab some late night coffee after a walk across the Tilikum, I would visit Ford Food and Drink.

In my last year and a half in Santa Clara, I’ve been able to travel around the greater San Jose area, exploring different coffee shops and neighborhoods. And of course, I’ve been able to try some pretty fantastic coffee, but I’ve also found cool spots in my area, whether it's a good place to focus, glance at art, just relax, or people watch.

1. Caffe Frascati: for when you want to be creative.

This shop is located in downtown San Jose and is very *funky* on the inside, adorned with photographs and student art projects. They have an upstairs balcony— kind of an open second floor that can be seen from the first floor— that I spend most of my time on. Sometimes I’m curled up on their couch reading a book, sometimes I’m at one of the tables journaling, other times I’m sitting, listening to the live music during their open mic nights.

2. Hannah’s Coffee: for when you want to people watch.

Located on The Alameda, Hannah’s coffee is always full of people of every background; college students talking about their “crazy” night, young parents trying to grapple their young kids, couples making conversation, and older adults doing the crosswords. For me, it’s a great place to people watch, as the average stay of each customer is fairly short— it’s not a very easy place to sit down and study, so people usually come in and sit for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.

3. Crema Cafe: for when you want to work.

Crema is always swarming with other SCU students, which for me at least, reminds me that I’m not the only one spending my Saturday studying. That said, it can also get pretty busy and loud.