Caffeine is something that most people enjoy having in their day to keep them moving –

and Castleton University is no different.

Freshman Sofia Garner drinks roughly two cups of coffee a day so that she can pay attention and not be lazy through her classes. She might also have an energy drink or two to keep going in the evening.

“I need to stay awake somehow,” she said causally while surrounded by empty soda and energy drink cans.

“If I don’t have some kind of caffeine during the day, I get headaches,” she added, kind of sheepishly, while she relaxed in her chair.

Sophomore acting and directing theater major Kayla Laurie drinks roughly two to three cups of coffee – every day.

“I drink it because it tastes good and it prevents me from falling asleep during the day,” she said.

Castleton University Professor Maya Kraus starts every day by getting two out of three of her children ready for school, while the third brews her a pot of coffee.

“Maya’s Okay,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh sitting at her desk when asked what happens when she doesn’t have coffee in the morning. 

“We are creatures of habit and ritual … It’s like a friend who is patting you on the back. Something that is saying you can go and out and get 1,000 things done today,” said Kraus,  who drinks about 20 ounces of coffee a day.

Nursing student Mikayla Sullivan said that depending on the day, she will drink two cups of coffee in the morning then two eight-ounce cups of Mountain Dew later in the day.

“If I’m drinking a Red Bull, people tend to notice that I am a little more hyper, I can’t slow down,” she said while painting her nails as her Keurig was heating water.

Sullivan is currently doing her clinical two hours away, so on days that she goes to the hospital, she starts drinking coffee at 4 a.m., then has a to-go cup in the car and finishes with a Red Bull toward the end of her shift.

Coffee blogger Ben Kissam states that as of February 2019, 50% of college students are drinking some kind of caffeinated drink, with coffee and energy drinks being the top choices.

He also states that roughly three to four cups of coffee a day for college students isn’t too bad for their health, and that just enough coffee, depending on the person, will increase their brainpower.