UNB has six coffee dining locations around campus. Study areas are usually surrounding the cafes, so if a student needs a boost of caffeine to finish their assignment, it’s easily available. But are students too dependent on coffee?
The Brunsiwckan interviewed several coffee lovers to learn more about why they are drinking coffee. Is the school workload making them drink more coffee, and has this led them to become addicted? Here we give an insight into the stories behind the love for coffee of three UNB students.
Our first interviewee was from the engineering faculty, Ian MacDonald. He started drinking coffee the summer after his first year at UNB. He had a job that required him to wake up early and his shift ended early in the afternoon—around 2pm. MacDonald would drink a pot of coffee to have the energy for the rest of the day and make up for the lack of sleep.
MacDonald said his school work does not affect his usual coffee consumption-—than two cups per day—as it only makes him drink coffee throughout the day, instead of having a concentrated consumption at certain times.
MacDonald told us that drinking a lot of coffee does not give him much energy, but it does prevent him from feeling groggy or being fuzzy. We also asked him if he still drinks coffee to avoid withdrawal effects.
“I don’t think I drink it just to avoid the withdrawal, I genuinely enjoy the taste, the comforting temperature and the whole deal, or at least that’s what I tell myself.”
In terms of his health, MacDonald said he would not be surprised if coffee exacerbated any existing anxiety he has. He can sometimes feel a fast heart rate and his nerves firing a little too hard before an exam.
Our second interviewee was Shiva David who is pursuing a master’s in electrical engineering. David told us his love for coffee started when he was twelve years old. David used to be an above-average coffee drinker, as he used to drink a litre of coffee every morning. However, he now drinks two cups of coffee per day.
David said the effects of coffee start to wear off after consuming a litre of coffee for a month. For David, not drinking coffee comes with withdrawal effects, such as headaches and not feeling productive.
“I am dependent on it, and I know that. So if I don’t drink it, it makes me feel as if I’m not healthy” he said.
Our last interviewee was Gawi Chen, a third-year Kinesiology student at UNB.
Chen has also loved coffee since he was twelve years old. However, he said he does feel he drinks more coffee to keep up with school work. He consumes one or two cups of coffee per day, increasing his consumption if he needs to stay up late to study or finish an assignment.
An interesting thing about two of our interviewees is that they do not buy their coffee on campus, but they prefer to make it themselves.
Perhaps they are more aware of the different flavours of coffee, and they prepare it how they like it. David told us he likes to try coffees from around the world.
It’s possible that students who drink coffee have always liked it, but school or work has made them aware of how much they are consuming and how much they depend on it.