For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a night owl. I can’t help but go to bed late every single night. As soon as nighttime hits, even if I was exhausted throughout the entire day, I feel wide awake. It’s as if my three hours of sleep the night before felt like eight. There’s just something about night that gives me tons of energy.

However, even though I’ve been a night person my entire life, I believe morning people have many advantages over us night owls.

School has proven to be one of the hardest things a night person has to deal with. The amount of times I’ve checked my 8 a.m. alarms at 4 a.m. is concerning. Being energized at night while also having to wake up early every day is not a good combination. All I want to do is stay up the whole night, but I know that doing so will result in me having to go the entire day with no sleep. Then again, I’m not sure if going through the day with only three hours of sleep is much better. 

For morning people, waking up at 8 a.m. isn’t a huge deal. Morning people typically go to bed earlier than us night owls, so they have an easier time getting up and ready. They get plenty of sleep and don’t experience the same grogginess I and many other night people feel when we wake up for class. In fact, morning people are energized by the fact that they’re waking up. It’s such a crazy concept to me, but I would be lying if I said I’m not jealous of their abilities to wake up so easily.  

Because they wake up full of energy, morning people also have the advantage of being able to finish their work earlier. In turn, they’re able to have more peaceful evenings, not ones where they’re stressed about a huge paper due at midnight. If I know I have an essay due, I have to work on it in smaller chunks throughout the day and then pick up speed later at night. If I had the energy to sit and finish the essay in the morning, I know I’d be a lot less stressed.

Finally, sleep is good for both your mental and physical health. Since I go to bed so late but have classes so early, I don’t get much sleep at all. I go through my days exhausted and having trouble focusing. Morning people aren’t as susceptible to sleep deprivation and are thus healthier in these aspects.

Though I believe morning people are superior to night owls, I don’t think I could ever change my routine. Nighttime is nice and quiet. People are sleeping and I feel like I can finally have some peace. Even though going through the day with little sleep isn’t ideal, my introvertedness could never give up the solitude of night.