On any given day, you might find me at Chaus, Audrey’s, or the Starbucks right across from Sid Richardson college, with a Nutty Bee, Texas Honey Cinnamon Latte, or Pumpkin Cream Chai in hand. A general rule of thumb is that if you don’t see me with some sort of caffeinated beverage, something is seriously wrong. While I might be enabling some caffeine addictions with this article (including my own), I am a firm believer that coffee is more than just a drink. It’s a tool. It’s a mindset. And when utilized right, you’d be surprised how coffee can change you. As a student, especially at Rice University, coffee has proved to be an invaluable resource. 

A typical weekday often looks like this- wake up at 8, eat breakfast, go to class, work, eat lunch, class again, work, dinner, work (weekends are quite a different story). But, given this kind of schedule, you can’t blame students for needing a quick Starbucks break or a daily Chaus run. And even if you view coffee as an unnecessary or frivolous expense, there are many legitimate reasons why college students turn to coffee. Early morning classes and late-night study sessions are two prominent examples. I’d rather chug a cup of coffee right before class than be one of the (many) people that fall asleep in my ECON 100 section. 

I’ll compromise that two or three cups a day (unfortunately, the amount of coffee I drank in high school) is definitely excessive, but needing one cup of coffee a day should be normalized. The word “need” gets a bad stigma in this context– as people tend to think it means a dependency on coffee. I can’t lie and say I’ve never had one, but it is possible to drink a coffee a day without being dependent on it. In fact, there’s even a science to drinking coffee to decrease dependency and maximize productivity. And as a recovering addict from a crippling caffeine addiction, I have some tips and tricks up my sleeve. 

The very first, and most important, is to only drink coffee when you need it. You might need it everyday (no judgment), but don’t just drink it out of routine if you don’t have a use for it. If you drink coffee on autopilot at eight in the morning every single day, it’ll slowly become your “new normal” and it’ll have no effect on your body. The logical answer (speaking from personal experience) is obviously to just drink another cup of coffee. Just like magic, it works and you’re feeling awake and alert again. At least, until your body adjusts to that “new normal” and you find yourself stuck in a cycle that has you drinking three cups of coffee a day. When this happened to me, I brushed it off as “the stress of college application season”. But, when it ended, I found myself waking up sluggish and couldn’t properly function until after my daily caffeine intake. Don’t worry, I ended up going six months without caffeine after. 

Now, I’m going to get a little bit science-y, but only for a second. Caffeine doesn’t actually give you more energy, but rather blocks sleep-inducing receptors in your brain (known as adenosine). Caffeine, mimicking adenosine, bonds to the receptors and prevents your brain from receiving “tiredness”. But, when the caffeine wears off, your brain receives all the adenosine that has been lurking around at once. This induces the “caffeine crash”, which effective caffeine drinkers have to plan around. This phenomenon introduces a few general rules, the most important being don’t drink caffeine after four. On the flip side, you can use caffeine to help yourself fall asleep- as long as you time your crash right. If you do decide to re-caffeinate (would not recommend), it has to be before the “caffeine crash”, or your brain will have already received signals from the adenosine. 

However, coffee isn’t just a way to stay awake, it’s also a mode of connecting with people. There’s a reason why coffee shops are a popular first date spot or why the line at Chaus is always an hour long. The convenience and ambiance of coffee shops attracts students- both socially and academically. It’s never been easier to get coffee. It’s one mobile-order away with the Starbucks app or an eight minute walk to Chaus. You can use your tetra, which means it’s practically free. And if coffee isn’t your thing, there’s always tea. Some days, I survive off of Jasmine Pokka, Arizona Green Tea, and instant chai packets. Whatever you drink, we need to stop discounting the power of caffeine and instead work to maximize its potential. 

The answer to the question “Do you want a cup of coffee?” isn’t always yes. There’s a lot more that goes into the decision that meets the eye.