We Own The Night by Jaemy

We Own The Night by Jaemy - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

There’s a certain tranquility to the night time that puts my restless mind at ease that the morning nor noon time could provide. In the concealing embrace of the night, there is no need to worry about social interactions, no issues of school or work, no distractions trumpeted by the noisy hustle and bustle of the real world. It is under the lively singing of crickets and neutral and aloof gaze of the moon that the true work of individuals who do their best work hidden from the prying eyes of the day is created with careful thought. I’d present myself as one of these individuals; slumbering in the evening and animating myself well into the night, working amidst the buzzing of the night life and chatter of my fan.

I’d like to owe this success at the terminus of post meridiem and the starting hours of ante meridiem to the sea of comforting solitude and companionship of one's own thoughts. In this ocean, I can reflect deeply on the work itself. It is not uncommon that by midnight I am fully awake, the traces of sleep from morning no longer clinging to my conscious and like a owl it allows my intellect to take flight on silent wings so that others may remain unaware of such endeavors.

Now it can be argued that in ruining my sleeping schedule to such a degree is the very antithesis of intellect and rational thinking. Perhaps, but the results and intrigue I take from working in the shy, haunting hours of the night prove far worth it to me. In the day following, I function better in classes, my scores don't falter, and I find myself being productive and using information gathered from the hunt of the night. I wholly enjoy company and socializing that the brash day brings but, the serenity contained in everybody being asleep and forcing me to solely focus on my tasks is more than worth it to me.

I do like to believe there’s a certain commonality to those who stay up past another’s bed time: the ability to think a bit deeper on events, to be free to do what one likes in the secrecy of night, a bit more down to earth (from lack of sleep or not), and in my case, scrounge the web for interesting morsels of information that may have never been considered looking into earlier. It feeds the brain with a different kind of sustenance that the noise of the day doesn’t allow for; a peace that lets me work productively.