Midnight Adventures by Zaeema

Midnight Adventures by Zaeema - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

Most students can attest to staying up until 3:00 a.m. watching movies and television shows, playing games, and hanging out with friends during the summer. We have finally reached our summer break after months of school. Our parents do not yell at us as much for waking up late, so we convince ourselves that watching one more episode or playing one more game will not hurt. However, regardless of whether it is the break or during school, I tend to be more of a night owl. I find myself sleeping usually anywhere from 12:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m., even on weekdays. During the day, my time is consumed with going to classes, club meetings, and school events and when I am finally done, it is late afternoon and I am too exhausted to start my school work. Instead, I take a power nap to get my energy back up and then start my work, being the most productive at night. This is so because the night is when my outside environment gets quieter. During the day, there are thousands of students on my college campus and multiple events going on, whereas, at night, many people are sleeping, in their rooms, or out with friends, so I do not have to interact or get distracted by them when I am trying to be complete my work. At night, I can focus just on the tasks I am trying to complete. I live on campus, so we have lounges in my dorm and a library only a short walk away, so I have access to places where I can study that are mostly empty and most definitely silent at night. In addition, nighttime is when I have the most alone time, so I can relax, go through my social media, watch my favorite shows on my laptop, and get much needed “me” time. Also, I work as a Desk Assistant in the residential building I live next to and my shifts tend to be what is called the “graveyard shifts”; the midnight to 4:00 a.m. shifts. Because of this, I have to stay awake while I am at the desk, so my sleep schedule has adjusted and I do not feel as tired at night as I do in the day. Lastly, days that I have nothing planned, I get bored easily and opt out to take a nap, but at night I always know that I can look through social media, YouTube, text friends, or meet up with friends who are night owls as well. Although I know many people are morning people, I will always find myself awake in the middle of the night, and I am happy that I am a nighttime person because I am the most productive and relaxed.