You would think that getting into the university or any other tertiary institution, really means you’re about to have the wildest time of your life. This may be true, depending on your energy and the company you keep. However, the school system, in some ways, is designed to take your life (not literally), and you would understand this if you have to or have had to go for early morning classes – usually 8 AM. It’s actually really hard to keep up with them, especially considering the fact that you never go to bed as early as you should.

You will relate to this if you’ve ever had to deal with the evils of 8 A.M classes:

You set about 5 different alarms because when is one ever enough?

Your 8 A.M classes make you doubt the control you have over important things such as sleep. You want to get to your class as early as you can, but your relationship with sleep is a hurdle you have to cross. This is where the alarm comes in; you try to be proactive and set up different alarms, usually 10-20 minutes apart to avoid stories that touch.

When you wake up sometime and realise that you still have some time

Nothing gives you greater joy than when you wake up sometime in the earliest hours of the morning and realise that you still have some more time to bury yourself deep inside the covers. The time you have left is not that much, but you will take it. You will take anything.

The irritation that hits when the first alarm goes off

Now, it’s 6 A.M – time to get up, but you just got to the sweetest part of your sleep. It’s funny, but at that moment, you wonder why you set up the alarm in the first place. You fall into the “I have more time” trap and turn on your side to another part of the bed.

You do a mental analysis of everything you stand to lose

The thing is you can’t go off to actual sleep anymore. All you now do as you toss from one side to the other is to try to decipher if you really have more time or if you are just setting yourself to fail. Or if you should just forget about going to class totally; you only need 75 % attendance anyway.

You hit the snooze again and will the alarm not to go off anymore

You are in doubt now, and if anything, that should be enough reason for you to get up. But no, not today. The alarm goes off again and you let your forefinger or thumb do the work and you slide to snooze.

At this point, your fingers are literally wrapped around your phone, waiting for the next time you will have to slide and snooze.

You eventually open your eyes wide enough to see the amount of light in your room

When your bed sorts of releases its hold on you, you realise how much time you’ve lost playing dead. The first pointer to that fact is the streak of light that filters into your room. You dreamily check the time and it’s 7:30 AM.

The rampage that follows

Finally, you have a reason to jump out of bed. The following minutes are usually a blur because you will work yourself into a frenzy to make up for the lost time. You might get lucky and get to your lecture room just in time. Or not. If the universe is really out to get you; your lecturer could be in a bad mood, refuse you entry, and give the early beds a test.

You promise yourself not to take such risks anymore, but that’s a promise you’re going to break sometime. It’s a cycle you can’t end.

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