Photo courtesy of Sporked.
Students are entering finals week guzzling all the sugar and caffeine. Are you running on empty, chasing deadlines, and feeling like you’re about to crash out? Late nights, early mornings, endless assignments—the grind of semester’s end is stressful.
So, how do SAU students do it all and manage to stay awake? When coffee doesn’t cut it, many turn to energy drinks for a quicker, stronger boost.
“It’s literally the girl drink,” said sophomore Victoria Taylor. “If you walk into the classroom with an Alani Nu, everyone knows you’re about to ace your exam and your Instagram story afterwards. It’s cute, it’s fizzy, it’s giving energy but make it aesthetic. Alani has been keeping me alive these weeks leading up to finals. I literally don’t know what I would do without caffeine.”
Students are reaching for brands like Alani Nu, Bubblr, Celsius, and Rockstar as their fuel of choice. With finals coming up next week, the bright cans and high milligrams of caffeine have become an essential part of the survival routine.
However, Victoria isn’t alone. In a recent unofficial survey of 80 SAU students—mostly female and between the ages of 18–21—67.5% said energy drinks are a regular part of their college lifestyle.
Student Preferences & Habits
To better understand this trend, a survey was conducted among SAU students to explore how and why they consume energy drinks, and what influences their buying decisions.
Some key findings:
- 28.7% of SAU students reported they consume about 3–4 energy drinks per week
- 36.3% say that branding and packaging influence their decisions when purchasing
- 36.3% say their primary reason for consuming energy drinks is to boost energy for studying
These drinks have become more than just a caffeine fix, as they are also making a statement on campus.
Whether it’s the aesthetic, the taste, or the boost, energy drinks are helping SAU students power through long days and even longer nights.
Nutritional Highlights
So…what are students actually drinking, and are these cans of liquid energy helping or hurting?
The Food and Drug Administration states, “For most adults, the FDA has cited 400 milligrams* a day — that’s about two to three 12-fluid-ounce cups of coffee — as an amount not generally associated with negative effects. However, there is wide variation in both how sensitive people are to the effects of caffeine and how fast they eliminate it from the body.”
While energy drinks offer a quick fix, health experts caution against overconsumption.
Furthermore, the American Heart Association, recorded that “People who drank 32 ounces of energy drinks in an hour had abnormal electrical activity in their hearts and higher blood pressure four hours later, a small study has found.”
Building on this information, a survey was conducted among SAU college students to weigh in their health concerns related to energy drink consumption.
SAU Student Opinions on Health Concerns with Energy Drinks
SAU Students’ Opinions on Healthy Ingredients in Energy Drinks
A study from Mayo Clinic, “While consuming energy drinks may not directly cause sudden cardiac arrest, caution is advised.”
The study’s lead investigator, Michael J. Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D., a genetic cardiologist, explains, “The heart reacts to the high caffeine and other chemicals. It’s the magnitude and the combination of the chemicals in energy drinks that can catch the vulnerable heart off guard and send it into a potentially lethal heart rhythm that leads to sudden cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death.”
Still, for most students, the focus is survival—not statistics.
Final Thoughts
Whether it’s surviving an early morning lecture or pulling a late-night cram session, energy drinks have become more than a trend, they’re a lifeline. For many SAU students, caffeine isn’t just about staying awake; it’s about getting through the week.
Just don’t be surprised if that neon-colored can you see in your classmate’s hand is doing more than keeping them alert, it might be the only thing keeping them from crashing out.
