My alarm will usually go off at seven and my brain will spend a panicked few seconds trying to get my arm to move and turn it off. I've talked before about my sleep schedule and how I'll often suffer from bouts of insomnia that make the early classes a form of torture for me.

The odd thing is that during the break I had no problem getting up at seemingly ridiculous hours to get to work on time but as soon as I need to haul my ass out of bed for a nine thirty lecture all of a sudden the snooze button on the alarm starts to be abused. Perhaps it's because I now live off campus and actually have to walk for about twenty minutes to get to class or perhaps its because I get paid to show up to work, either way today I had an 8:30 class and that inspired this little post.

Campus is an interesting place first thing in the morning as it is virtually abandoned. If you're lucky one of the cafe's will be open and you can get some life-giving caffeine. There are also some coffee machines on campus now that actually dispense halfway decent coffee for only $2. On Wednesdays the Guild gives out free slices of toast so if, like me, you have to skip breakfast because you've been a bit generous with the snooze button you at least don't have to go into your lecture hungry.

Other than that campus is a serene place before the buses start dropping students off, the long procession from the village begins and the car parks begin to fill up. If you get there really early, as I have on some occasions, you can simply relax on bush court and perhaps get some readings done before your tutorial. When the sun is shining and you've got a free piece of toast getting up early doesn't seem so bad.

I woke up about half an hour before my alarm this morning. This doesn’t happen very often but I was completely awake and half of my brain was desperately trying to find a way to justify getting up earlier than usual while the other half was quite content to simply slump back asleep. I was literally falling asleep when the wakeful half of my brain shouted (mentally) “If you get up early you’ll have time to get coffee before class starts!” This was a dirty trick and resentfully I got up and went through the motions of getting ready for class.

Last year I had a stomach problem that essentially meant I had to avoid coffee which made early morning lectures hell on me. I tried all the alternatives, eating an apple, drinking a glass of that fizzy vitamin stuff that’s meant to be good for you and even drinking 3 cups of tea but none of them worked. So it came as a bit of a surprise when I found myself coping better and better without my coffee fix. I was able to focus in class without constantly sipping at my caffeine drip and slowly but surely I stopped falling asleep in lectures. I’d broken the back of my addiction and would never again need to be dependent on a stimulant to keep me going through the day. I had won.

Sadly for me I started work at a cafe that provides free coffee for its staff and after only one day there I caught myself with a coffee in my hand. I hadn’t even been fully aware I was drinking it until it was far too late. Like a recovering alcoholic I fell off the wagon and I fell hard. Sure I rationalised that it was only one latte to help me get started in the day but soon I was getting coffee between lectures and then after lectures. Now all it takes is the promise of coffee to get me to wake up half an hour before I even need to. I am even sipping at a mug of coffee while I type this.

I guess what I’m saying is that it may seem like a problem but really there’s no problem here at all. If you’ll excuse me I need to go and peruse the bean selection at the grocery store now.