The perks to being perky

Picture this: It's Monday morning, you roll out of bed 20 minutes later than you wanted to, your hair is rumpled, the only shirt you can find is the one you wore out the weekend before when you spilled beer on yourself and you have no time to eat any kind of breakfast. We've all been there. As college students, sleep deprivation and overwhelming amounts of stress is just part of the job description.

Getting swamped under the pressures of school, work, internships and clubs while smelling like three-day-old beer is all in a day's work. It's on mornings like these that coffee prevails at being an everlasting savior. For me, a cup of strong espresso is like a life partner that will never leave your side. Or a rich cappuccino can take you away, if only for a moment, from your hectic lifestyle.

As a coffee drinker I tend to get a bad rap from the caffeine haters. Yet nobody seems to be demeaning the drinking habits of the energy drink consumers. All the non-coffee drinkers can see is the occasional yellow teeth and the shaky hands due to ample amounts of caffeine. But what's wrong with a little addiction?

I'm here to give you the inside scoop on how to defend your addiction to all of those haters out there who continue to be scornful of such habits.

Tea is supposedly the best source of antioxidants. Ha! That's where they are wrong. Coffee is actually the number one source of antioxidants within the American diet. So, next time you see your friend stuffing their face with blueberries to avoid disease, just sip on your warm cup of coffee and laugh at them.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I started drinking coffee to keep me awake.  It was my senior year of high school and I had too much on my plate. I was running myself into the ground and I felt like I couldn't possibly keep going. It was then that I turned to coffee to help me through. Coffee forced my gears to keep working and my body to keep moving. Granted, it's not the healthiest thing you could be doing to keep your body alert and attentive, but it does the job. I've even found that my mind becomes sharper and my productivity increases after a steamy dark roast.

The British Nutrition Foundation said that there's "nothing wrong with drinking four to five cups a day, but you should be drinking fruit juices and water to avoid dehydration." So, as long as you are still filling up on those fluids there is no need to ditch this glorious habit.

Riddle me this: If coffee was such a horrible thing why are there coffee shops on just about every street in downtown La Crosse? These people aren't trying to kick the habit and neither should you. Embrace your unearthly love for this divine drink, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.