The all-nighter is practically a rite of passage for every college student. Depending on your level of procrastination and your major, you could end up pulling more of them than you bargained for.
I’ve had my fair share during my four years — none that I looked forward to — but few things are more gratifying than finishing your work and crawling into bed as the sun rises to catch just a couple hours of sleep before zombie-walking to chapel, coffee in hand, praying that you remembered pants that morning.
The saving grace of any all-nighter is the promise that the following afternoon, you will take the sweetest nap of your life. Recently, though, one of these naps came back to bite me. I’ve learned the hard way to always set an alarm before laying down, but this time, I thought to myself, “I’ll only be asleep 30 minutes, what could go wrong?” Six hours later, I awoke, terror-stricken at my mistake. It was 8 p.m., the sun had set and I had missed four meals — second lunch, snack time and first and second dinners.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the worst was yet to come. Strangely enough, it’s not easy to sleep at night when you slept literally all day long. An all-nighter was ahead of me, but this was like none I had experienced before: this one lacked purpose.
Some people enjoy staying up to play video games or chat with friends until the sun rises. I have never been about that life; I value my sleep. So when I stay up all night, it’s to get something done. For this particular occasion, however, I had nothing to do. I sat on my couch long after my roommates had gone to sleep, praying for a nonviolent home invasion because at least then I would be entertained. When that didn’t happen, I had to figure out what to do for the next five hours. If you find yourself restless at 3 a.m., here are some good ways to fill your time that don’t involve stalking your ex on Instagram.
1. Watch a “Cops” marathon. Late-night television doesn’t get enough credit. I don’t mean Kimmel, Letterman or Conan; they get more than enough credit. I mean late-late-night. “Cops” used to be something I looked at with disdain, but it’s actually a very interesting and culturally enriching show.
2. Clean your kitchen. If you’re anything like me, this is perpetually at the bottom of your to-do list. At the end of the day, I’m happy if I did half of what I wanted to do, so my apartment maintains a “neglected-chic” look. That can only last so long before rodents become tenants, so cleaning up is a smart decision, even if it is just once a month.
3. Look at apartments. Most days I’m comfortable ignoring my fast-approaching future, but the truth is, college doesn’t last forever. That doesn’t have to be sad, though. Nothing gets me more pumped about graduating than online shopping for apartments in the cities I want to live in post-grad. I’m still in the “I don’t need to pay attention to price range” phase, so I have a couple more reality checks in store before I can consider this a serious endeavor.
4. Call your grandmother (or any elderly person in your life). The end of an all-nighter usually overlaps with when my grandparents’ alarm clock goes off. If it’s 6 a.m. and you’re still not tired, give them a call. They appreciate it, and they’ll probably send you a few bucks to prove it.
5. Write your weekly column for the Bison.
