As we mark the halfway point in the semester (and three quarters point through Freshman year, wow) along with it comes midterms. While I thought my week was heavy with two papers and a midterm, that was nothing compared to the girl in my calculus class with three exams and two papers.
On Monday night I sat in the library with my friend Francesca, and around 11:30 I decided to call it a night. I had studied for seven hours that day, written one of my papers, and finished the studying I scheduled out for me to do that day in preparation for my exam. I could have pushed myself a little harder and gotten some more done, but I decided to go to bed.
My friend Francesca, on the other hand, was not calling it a night. She was going back to her dorm, showering so she could wake up a little more, and then going back to the library.
This had become a normal routine for her.
However, I had never done this, and probably never will.
Let me explain my reasoning.
When I was in 6th grade I went to a birthday party that was a sleepover. But this one was different, it was in a hotel. There were about eight girls in the room, three in the two queen sized beds, and two of us on the floor. Someone had the idea to stay up until 6 in the morning and watch pay per view movies and gossip about which boys we wanted to kiss, so that is what we all did. Little did we know the birthday girl’s mom knocked on our door at 9 am and told us to get up to go home.
The second I walked in my door, my dad looked at me and saw my drooped eyes and asked if I had pulled an (almost) all nighter.
He then told me this story about how he used to pull all nighters in college. It wasn’t pulling the all nighter that sucked, it was the day after.
He was right.
That day was not fun. I was in a bad mood and very sassy. It took me quite a while to get my sleep schedule back to normal after that. I promised myself I would never pull an all nighter after that.
And even the days that I’m up until 2 or 3 am studying, I hate myself the next morning. Guess I’m just one of those people who need more sleep to function.
So, Francesca, and everyone who has ever pulled/will pull an all nighter to study, I applaud you.