As a college student with a part-time job, five classes, a sorority to recruit for, and numerous other extracurricular activities, I’m not a stranger to the Starbucks on Garner Street as I trudge slowly to my 10am. In fact, my job is IN a coffee shop. While I heavily rely on a hot cup o’ joe to get me through my lectures, I tend to see even more caffeine junkies when I work as a barista. I usually have to ask my customers to repeat their order back to me, as they slowly mumble their order the first time. This leads me to the question: How much coffee/caffeine is too much? And why do some people need it more than others?

According to this statistic, of people college-age and above, over half of them drink coffee every day. That means around 500 people in your 100 Thomas lecture have already guzzled down a latte or are planning to after class. While coffee has many forms, flavors, and ways of preparation, most all include some type of caffeine, the ingredient in coffee that gives you a buzz.

As the caffeine in your coffee slowly opens your eyes and transforms you from zombie to human, one has to wonder, what actually happens in your body?

In a nutshell, the caffeine obstructs the way of other chemicals. Caffeine is similarly built like the chemical that causes you to be sleepy. So the as caffeine makes its way through your body, it deceives your nerve cells and takes the place of the chemical that usually binds there.

In recent news, there is a new super mo-jo that is claiming to keep consumers lively for a staggering 18 hours. Around 5 grams of caffeine can be found in the coffee, compared to a measly 95mg. So if you ever take your first few sips of latte in the morning and feel a slight buzz that pulls you through your entire day, you may not require the extreme alertness that comes along with the new super coffee. Instead, stick to your cup or two in the morning and lunchtime to stay perfectly aware throughout your lectures and labs. However, if the walk to class feels like it just won’t end and when you finally get to class your eyes won’t stay open, it may be worth a shot to try out a stronger coffee with lots of caffeine.

I feel that coffee drinking is more of a habit and develops with the situation than an actual need among college students. Personally, before living with me, my roommate stuck to lemon water in the morning. Now, almost immediately after I brew a pot in the morning, she’s pouring it in her to-go cup along with half-and-half and a dash of sugar. Also, coffee shops are the epitome of a study space, creating a calming and productive environment, meaning a perfect place to grab a latte with your study group and finish projects, rather than waiting in line for your absolutely-necessary morning cup.

Coffee 101: Choosing the Perfect Cup

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Hi everyone! My name is Sarah, and I’m a sophomore studying marketing and minoring in IST. I’m from Gettysburg, PA, where the bloodiest battle of the Civil War happened. Here at Penn State, I love football, Wings Over, and hanging out with my best friends who all are in my sorority. I think that Penn State is an amazing school for many majors, including science related majors.

I’ve always enjoyed science, I’ve probably watched Big Bang Theory about 3 times through the entire series and I now get about 80% of the jokes.

But I do think there is something intriguing about science, and how there is always an answer or explanation, even if the answer is “we haven’t solved that yet”. I have huge respect for the smart men and women who dedicate their lives to discovering ways to use science to improve daily life. It takes an incredible mind to study something like science, where your topic can be as small as an atom or as big as the universe.

In high school, I really enjoyed Earth Science and Biology, and tried to avoid class when I had Chemistry and Physics. When I got to college, my freshman roommate was a biochemistry major and long story short, I never saw her. She was always at the library and would stumble into bed at 3am for an 8am class. After this experience, my view on science majors dulled even more.

However, science is not the path for me. I chose SC200 because I needed one more GN and this one also fit nicely with my schedule. I love being creative and inventive and going with the flow. Marketing has allowed me to take incredible ideas and twist and mold them to what I want to convey to everyone else. Sometimes those characteristics aren’t favorable with science and its studies. So with that being said, I will continue to study marketing but am fully confident that SC200 will be an interesting course. Otherwise, my adviser has some explaining to do.