Is Life Against the Early Birds?

I am one of those people who legitimately enjoys getting up early. Over the past few summers, I will head to the Wellness Center bright and early (5:30 am opening) and then be at work by 7:30, all through my undergraduate years. During the school year, I still prefer to be on campus by 7:00 and get in a workout and have some downtime for homework before heading to class, instead of waiting until the end of the day.

This is my normal. Even in high school, I had 7:45 am class times, which meant I would be asleep far earlier than my peers. However, it was around this time that I began to realize that the world caters to people who are night owls.

I first really began to notice the difference once I hit ninth grade. I had played on the middle school tennis team in seventh and eighth grade. Then, I got a job my freshman year of high school, and thus did not have time to participate in athletics since I was saving for college. However, even though I was working, the biggest downside of participating in tennis again was late practices. And not just a few times; the team would have indoor court times reserved for 9pm or later several nights a week.

I understand this seems perfectly normal to many people, but as I said before, I had 7:45 am classes. I didn’t yet have my driver’s license and my dad would be in bed by 8pm to get up at 2am to head to his (very) early job. My parents would not have been easily able to provide transportation home at 10:30 at night, only for me to wake up and head to school early.

In college, it’s no different. Most activities begin at 7pm or later and often continue on until 10 or 11 in the evening. Meanwhile, I am still trying to figure out how I can be up for early work schedules and be active and involved in campus events without feeling wiped out halfway through the evening.

This doesn’t just apply on campus, but in the world as well. Concerts that begin at 7pm on a Tuesday night, sporting events, late-night church services and youth groups and so many other aspects of life that simply cater to the late-night crowd, and I get it! To an average person, 8pm doesn’t seem ridiculously late. But, flip the narrative and think that 7am isn’t even that early for a lot of morning people.

One other aspect I have noticed is that many stores are willing to stay open until 10 or 11pm, but rarely are stores open before 9am. This is frustrating for those of us who are up early enough to run errands before the day becomes busy and we have other responsibilities piled up. I understand that staffing can definitely interfere in this case, but at the same time, there are many people who are not college students who would like to have early morning hours offered.

Night shifts, nurses, emergency responders, construction workers and so many other jobs that can have odd hours don’t have many options for early morning activities.

I’m not asking for that big of accommodations for those who don’t abide by traditional hours: all I ask is that early birds have some options when it comes to socializing and everyday life.

The good news for us early folks is that gyms are often open early or 24/7 and sunrise, in my opinion, is far better than sunset.

In summary, some people genuinely enjoy being up early. It’s not a flex or an obligation; it’s just a lifestyle. The world might take some time to figure it out before we actually see a concert occur before 8pm, but until then, we will just continue to head to bed early and hit our to-do lists before noon.