The Night Life Chose Me by Sara

The Night Life Chose Me by Sara - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

I used to believe, or at least make myself believe, that I am a morning person. I felt like it was wrong to not be able to function as great in the morning as I do in the evening, but as the saying goes, “the early bird gets the worm.” Late birds don't get worms, late birds don't get anything. It was like a push of motivation to keep me from falling astray. When I was younger, I strongly believed I was a morning person at some point. Everyone is when they're young. We are forced to wake up early and start school early to where it becomes a daily routine. The typical day of an elementary student in Nevada begins around nine am. As we reach our teenage years, high school decides to push the clock back even earlier, and a few years later, I am waking up at five thirty to be at my chemistry class at seven. I am not complaining, because it is good to teach structure and enforce rules at a young age. Without bedtimes and curfews, we would function poorly as adults. But despite how many hours of sleep I got, solving algebraic equations or reviewing a piece of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream always got the best of me in the morning.
I tried to make my body adjust to different sleeping patterns. By attempting to fall asleep at eight or even seven pm, maybe I would be more alert the next day. I was wrong. It hit me like a back seat whiplash of a car accident. Not only did it make me more tired, but reaching that level of exhaustion threw in my face the epiphany that I was just more capable of succeeding throughout the nighttime. I was made for the moon. Like a sponge who immediately absorbs any water it touches, I instantly grasp the focus I was yearning for in the morning at twelve or one am. My focus feels as though it has been put in an eyepiece lens magnified by 100x its original image. When I work at night it feels as if I drank 100 cups of coffee. I could be awake forever. Speaking of, that was another thing I tried; coffee. But because I am a night owl, resistance blocks the traveling caffeine from affecting my bloodstream. If anything, coffee does not keep me awake but works like a tea that soothes me to sleep.
I remember feeling bad for my pre-calc teacher because I would always fall asleep in his class. Math was my favorite subject, and he was an impeccable instructor, but I couldn’t help it. My eyes would gradually roll, and my head would slowly melt into a cinder block bouncing back and forth. Early mornings were the annoying cousin that I endured throughout the holidays. We pretended to like each other, but I knew I always did much better with evenings. Evenings and I are best friends, even now as I progress through college. My best ideas don't come out until around 11 or 12 am when the wolves come out. I didn't choose the nightlife, the nightlife just chose me, as it does to a lot more students. Even now, I am typing this at twelve thirty-nine am. It’s almost as if my imaginative fluids don’t begin to circulate until I’ve had dinner and went upstairs. Yet my body backfires me because I am forced to wake up early the next day. I believe morning students are at an advantage, just because already by noon they have accomplished so much, unlike I who waits until after dinner until my imagination decides to generate ideas. It is a calling that I am proud of.
I honestly can't wrap the true reason around my head as to why I function better at night than I do in the mornings. I don't know if my stars aren’t aligned, or maybe it was the fact that I was born late in the afternoon on a summer day in August, but I don’t ever think I’ll obtain a steady relationship with 7 am. Although these reasons seem to make more sense, a reason I formulated that I truly believe is the fact I am more successful at night, is because I watch my favorite show, Friends, when it only airs on at night. After a few episodes of Dogcat and Hey Arnold pass, my favorite show, Friends come on. Maybe it’s Phoebe’s eccentric personality or the way Joey and Chandler get along, but as I turn up the volume at eleven pm, my best work comes pouring out like honey, and I make sure I get it all down.