Studying = Student dying

Yesterday I overdosed on coffee. Before you say ‘wait, is that even possible?’ I will assure you that it is. There’s this cool website that tells you everything you need to know about caffeine. Within the space of 4 hours, on an empty stomach, I consumed 5 or 6 cups of (very strong) coffee, and for 4 hours afterwards it felt like my head was hovering somewhere around Jupiter and I felt confident my bodily fluids were at least 95% caffeine and I couldn’t control my hands. Not to mention I felt sick and dizzy, and basically stumbled around the flat every time I had to get out of bed (where I was studying). It was awful. But necessary. You see, I stayed up quite  late on Monday night to finish my essay (I didn’t have to pull an all-nighter though; I was in bed by 3am), and then I had to get up early because the essay was due in before 10am, and I had to go to the library to print it out first. After that was done, I spent the rest of the day studying for my Media Studies exam, which I sat this morning (another early start; 9.30am). I struggled to keep my eyes open while studying for it, and when you’re extremely tired, haven’t had anything to eat and really like coffee, it’s rather easy to overdo it.
In the end I think I got a good 14 hours of studying done, which really helped. But what I was most impressed with is that I managed to stay off the computer basically all day, only starting it up after 9pm to do some PDF readings, and not spending any time on Twitter. Amazing! It proves that it’s doable.
I didn’t have a very good sleep last night, what with all the media terms racing through my head as well as a million other things. This morning before I went to sit my exam I had one (double shot) cup of coffee and a can of V and now, a mere 4 hours later, I’m already experiencing withdrawal symptoms because my caffeine consumption today is nowhere near as high as it was yesterday. I might try to go outside to escape the lure of the espresso machine; besides, it’s sunny and warm in the capital today, and a smell of summer is in the air (I mean that quite literally; I think it smells like the South Island in summer). It’s tempting to pack my Philosophy coursebook and just head over to the Botanic Gardens for a good afternoon nap…