Wake up and smell the coffee, or roll back over and get some more sleep.

The snooze button is your friend. That’s what I always say.

Sure, you could say that waking up early gives you a head start on the day. You could also say that waking up early causes you to miss Law and Order because you are just too tired to stay awake.

I’m not a morning person and probably never will be. But I know that someday I’m going to get a job that requires me to be awake and ready to take on the world before 10 am. Unfortunately for the world, Flagler lets me do my own scheduling and right now I’m not planning on getting into that habit any time soon.

Of course there are some things I could do to help me get up before McDonalds stops serving breakfast. One of the more obvious approaches would be going to bed earlier. That however is near impossible. Right now, it’s 1:17 in the morning and I’m only in the second paragraph of a 600-word paper.

Poor planning? Sure.

Procrastinator? You betcha.

I’m a procrastinator, big deal. So is the rest of the Flagler student body who knows they have a paper due the next morning but also knows that it’s recession night at Madre’s. No one can resist five-dollar fish burritos. I’m just saying I’m not alone.

My average day goes like this:

I hear my alarm go off at 9am. ‘Click’. Snooze button.

9:09am. ‘Click’. Snooze button.

9:18am. I should start thinking about getting up because I know I need to take a shower but this pillow is just so comfortable.

9:21am. Ah shit, I’m going to be late.

As I’m pedaling along on my sweet jet-black beach cruiser I can feel the yawns approaching. I make a quick stop at Carmelo’s to pick up some five-hour energy shots. Three of them should do the trick. I must keep that company in business because I go through these things like it’s my job.

I’m a little late to tennis class but I make up for it with my smooth talk and my ridiculous Andy Roddick like serve. However, it’s hard to fulfill my tennis potential when neither myself nor my partner can get the ball over the net due to lack of sleep and energy.

I’m looking at you Katie Bass.

After tennis I go to my opinion writing class. The topics of conversation are usually quite entertaining so I can push through the yawns and participate in whatever the hell it is we talk about.

Next is script writing and this is where things begin to get a little fuzzy. Mainly because this is when I start to close my eyes.

Why can I not get through Barry Sands script writing class without dozing off?

After being caught sleeping by Mr. Sand himself, I secretively take my first energy shot and feel a boost of life flow through my veins. My day carries on with an advertising class and another energy shot. At this point, I’m feeling pretty good.

My last class is alternative cinema where we just watch American and foreign films. I hardly ever make it through a whole movie without taking a brief catnap. Yet I persevere through the fighting z’s trying to win over my eyelids and quickly down my third and final five-hour energy shot.

I feel nauseous. This stuff cannot be good for me.

Is there something wrong with me? Am I a night owl who sleeps during class and checks my facebook from midnight to 5 am? I know that no one else is awake or online but I still stare at the screen waiting for someone to comment on those ten bumper stickers I just added.

Maybe I do seriously need to reconsider my sleep schedule but it isn’t the easiest thing to do. I’ve attempted to go to bed early after a very long sleep in session that morning. I was quite proud of myself too. I laid in bed for a bit, set my alarm for 9 am and thought about my plans for tomorrow. About two hours later I was tossing and turning, wide-awake still and not even close to having a single dream yet. I tried everything and nothing worked: reading, watching the food network, praying, counting sheep, drinking warm milk, etc.

Maybe sleeping in isn’t such a great idea after all. Maybe I should start going to sleep before the sunrises. Perhaps then I can experience a full nights rest and be completely energized for the day. That way when I wake up I won’t need to hit the snooze button every nine minutes or put my head under my pillow in order to block out the sun.

Either way, there is one thing I’m sure of; I’m never going to watch Paranormal Activity before I go to sleep again. That movie kept me awake for days.