It is the norm for high school students to feel tired, especially the culminating days before semester exams. There is just a load of things that students deal with throughout the school year: general homework, projects, hours of studying, all-nighters, extracurriculars, performances and much more. So, it’s natural that nowadays coffee is not just for adults, who undergo the trials of working and parenting; at an early age, students can easily get addicted to coffee, too.

“I drink two cups of coffee a day and if not I feel tired,” freshman Thane Flores said. “I started drinking it when I was 8 years old. My mom just gave me and my siblings some in tiny cups at first and then we started drinking more and more as we grew up.”

This caffeinated drink is easily accessed at home and at various coffee shops around. Coffee shops such as It’s a Grind and Starbucks make coffee more appealing for youth with the different flavors of frappuccinos to sweeten up their taste buds rather than having only plain coffee. However, there are still some students who don’t find coffee appealing at all.

“I just don’t like the taste of coffee,” junior Eastian Shon said. “Plus, the more and more you put sugar in it, it just starts to taste like chocolate milk.”

One reason coffee seems to attract students is because the drink provides some energy for those extra stressful days of school and long nights of studying. It’s a defeating experience to fall asleep in the midst of working on homework and coffee can sometimes help prevent that. Still, there are some alternatives that can be used to keep up one’s energy level.

“I prefer eating chocolate and ice cream when I’m tired,” junior Ice Limchantra said. “I’d rather have something sweet than bitter to wake me up.”

Coffee takes hold of many people in the world. Every morning, most households will hear and smell the grinding of coffee beans, and now with the number of students in on the coffee express, it has become increasingly one of the most popular refreshments to drink. Coffee is overall a strong, overpowering force.

“I may not like coffee as much as others but it’s understandable why so many people like and depend on it so much,” Limchantra said. “It has a strong taste that can really bring up your senses. I feel like eventually later on I’ll end up drinking coffee often, too.”