This time of the year, the setting of the common coffee shop near campus goes from quiet and serene to long lines and conversating students.
“During dead week and exams, it gets packed,” Julia Loeffler, a senior in communication, said. Loeffler has worked at Global Village, an organic coffee shop on Hillsborough Street, for the past year and a half.
Loeffler said there is a noticeable increase of student customers before finals and there is a difference in normal orders of coffee.
“[Students] will start to request more shots of espresso,” Loeffler said. “They are definitely here for the fix.”
Students said they feel more pressure to perform better academically during dead week.
Nicholas Feamster, a sophomore in sports management, said he has started to drink three cups of coffee a day-one in the morning, evening and late at night.
“The main reason I started was because [coffee] was the only thing I could think of to stay awake,” Feamster said.
He said he doesn’t want to take pills and coffee is a safer solution.
According to Mary Bengtson, the medical and laboratory director of the Student Health Center, coffee is still not the optimal way to complete work.
“[The Student Health Center] in no way is advocating a student to increase caffeine intake to improve performance,” she said.
Bengtson said students come into the health center during exam time with symptoms of too much caffeine.
Common side effects of large amounts of caffeine are the irritation of stomach lining, stomach pain and indigestion or an increased heart rate, according to Bengston.
She said someone currently taking medication increases his or her chance of having a seizure.
James Midgette, a freshman in accounting, said he drank two 20-ounce coffees and three cans of Dr Pepper one night in order to stay awake to write a paper.
Midgette said he was still awake for his 8:30 a.m. class the next day.
He added he got his coffee at a C-store located on campus. The C-stores also sell “No-Doz,” a 200-mg caffeine pill.
Midgette said he felt “antsy” and needed breaks while writing his paper, but that was the extent of his symptoms. However, if he ever procrastinates on another project, he said he would take caffeine again in order to stay awake.
Bengtson said caffeine is usually the first thing that comes to mind “to get the edge” while studying and completing assignments.
There are better alternatives when students begin to feel the pressure of time such as getting more sleep, staying hydrated, eating a balanced diet and taking exercise breaks.
A recent survey done by Bengtson and the Student Health Center found a majority of students were already sleep deprived prior to dead week.
“Most students average 6 hours of sleep per night,” Bengtson said. She said the ideal average amount of sleep is 7-8 hours a night.
Bengtson said students lead a busy life, which contributes to their lack of sleep.
“The ideal world would love to have all projects and assignments done and be ready for the final,” she said. “It is not a perfect world for all students, so [students] look for what will get [them] through these last two weeks.”
Feamster said he is aware of the health effects caffeine can have on him, but he said he will only start to worry when he starts to drink four cups of coffee a day.
Bengtson said caffeine is addictive, and can be considered a “drug of abuse” because of people’s dependency. People can become tolerant of the effects and begin to have withdrawal symptoms.
Loeffler said her boss has come to expect her co-workers to have coffee before they are able to work.
“There is no operating anything until we have our cup,” Loeffler said. “Customers need it, too.”
She said she remembers putting seven shots of espresso into one coffee for a customer.
Bengtson said students who take caffeine in order to stay awake and be productive often have the plan “backfire.” She said popular energy drinks have a lot of sugar and will make a student end up crashing after a quick rush of energy.
“If you choose to use caffeine, know the dosage,” Bengston said. “Use it safely.”
She added the best way to avoid caffeine is to practice time management.
“If you feel behind or desperate this time of the semester, look at what you can change next semester to avoid feeling that way again,” she said.