The Night Owl Rises by Melanie

The Night Owl Rises by Melanie - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

Every human is different, but one thing we have in common is our need to sleep on a regular basis. With the implementation of early school and work days, many people throw around the terms of ‘morning person’ and ‘night owl’ as descriptions of their peak performance time during the day.
I strongly identify as a night owl. As a student who is actively involved in extracurriculars while also maintaining the top GPA in my school, I dedicate my entire day to completing my work on time and to the best of my ability. My house can get pretty chaotic during the day, but late at night, the noise and bustling die down. All that remains are my own thoughts and the quiet of the night to accompany me. I thrive off of the silence as I can concentrate and focus on what I plan to do and follow through with this objective. Furthermore, as a self-identifying introvert, knowing that the rest of my city is sleeping is reassuring to me. Not only do I feel like I finally achieved a sense of “alone” time, but I also feel that I am surpassing others by working while they are sleeping. As a competitive person, this is equivalent to winning a game, practicing more, and having more touches than those you are in competition with. It is an utmost delightful feeling.
Another aspect of the night owl persona that is so appealing to me is how unappealing being a morning bird is. As a morning bird, I would rationalize that I have the entire day to finish the tasks I want to complete, therefore stalling and wasting precious time that I could have been sleeping during. As a teenager, procrastination is practically my middle name. I live off of following due dates, regardless of how close to the deadline it is that I am completing the assignment. I have come to terms with how I work, and I know that I will force myself to produce some result before I allow myself to go to bed. In the morning, that drive of fear is nonexistent and the ultimate enemy, procrastination, emerges out of the bright sky.
The sense of time is another factor that goes into my love for the night owl. A morning person has to be okay with understanding that they have other things to do and places to be by a certain time in the present day. This prevents them from having as much time as a night owl to do as they please. A night owl has the entire night, whereas a morning person has only until they must move on to the next assignment or location. To me, this is stressful as I would be looking forward to the present day instead of focusing on my tasks. My mind would jump off of the straight track the night owl takes if I were to attempt to work in the early mornings.
The night is magical. In a way, it distorts my sense of time, while also provoking my sense of urgency. This works in my favor, leading me to complete every task I put forth. I understand how my mind works and as a result, I have devised a sleeping pattern that fits well into my busy schedule. On school days I nap when I come home for an hour and a half. Usually during this time when I nap, I would be procrastinating, scrolling through social media and the works. By napping, I am adding precious sleep time and allowing my body to rest and prepare for the productive night ahead of me. I have found this to work; this is my reasoning for the legitimacy behind my night owl productivity. You must allow the loneliness and darkness associated with the night to have a place in your life in order to reap the unique benefits only seen when the sun goes down and the moon rises.