Caffeine Addiction Confessions

CLOCK PHOTO/ TINA SERVAES

Some Plymouth State University students are morning people. They are able to wake up at seven o’clock on any day, get ready for class at eight o’clock and just go. Other students however, need that extra “get up and go” to survive the slog through those first few Monday morning classes. That’s where their best friend, Mr. Coffee comes in. 

Ask a lot of avid coffee drinkers and they will more than likely say that they started to get into the habit of drinking it every day when they started college. Plymouth State University, with its large variety of on and off campus cafés, shops, restaurants and other eating establishments, certainly doesn’t leave coffee drinkers with a lack of places to get their morning pick-me-up. But is there such a thing as too much coffee? Are there students on campus that literally cannot get through the day without it? Can it turn into an addiction? Some students shared their thoughts on what their average day at PSU with coffee entails: 

“I drink at least one large coffee a day. Sometimes more.” Said Chelsey LaPierre, a PSU Senior. “I do feel like I need coffee to get through the day. It’s one of the first things I think about when I wake up!”

Some students will argue that drinking too much coffee is bad for you, but coffee drinkers will justify their large amounts by saying that it is necessary just so they can get by academically. 

“In the morning I make a 4-cup pot of coffee and put the entire thing in my huge travel mug, and that’s gone by the time my first class is over.” Said Maria Boudreau, a PSU Senior. “Later in the day I’ll have a slightly smaller cup of coffee to keep me going while I’m at work or doing homework or just trying to stay awake so I can function.” 

Several people in the medical field and in the general public have questioned whether or not this kind of “coffee addiction” can be harmful to someone’s health. Since caffeine can be an addictive substance, some students choose not to bother beginning to drink coffee in the first place. For students like LaPierre and Boudreau however, the “addiction” may have already set in. 

“I believe my addiction started in the ninth grade when I started watching Gilmore Girls.” Said LaPierre. “I get headaches without it, I’m cranky without it. It’s terrible! But I guess it’s better than being addicted to other things. 

"I am most definitely addicted, though it’s to the caffeine, not the coffee itself.” Said Boudreau. “If I don’t have a cup of coffee by ten o’clock in the morning, by noon I’ll have a terrible headache, but as soon as I start drinking something with caffeine it’s gone.”

Not only is this need for coffee a struggle physically for the students, but it can have a financial impact as well. “It sucks cause it means I have to spend all this money just to make it through the day awake and without pain.” Said Boudreau. “But I only have myself to blame. One too many Starbucks lattes I guess.”

While there are some students like Boudreau and LaPierre who say they need coffee to make it through a day, there are other coffee drinkers who simply drink it for the enjoyment. 

“I consider myself to be a coffee connoisseur more than an addict.” Said PSU first-year, Gavin Morgan. “I don’t feel the need to drink coffee, I just enjoy a nice cup of Java. If Plymouth didn’t have anywhere to get coffee, I would be terribly distraught.” 

Thankfully, for these three students, and all the other coffee drinkers on campus, whether it’s for waking up, studying or relaxing, PSU will always have places where students can go to get that hot Cup O’ Joe.