Once An Owl by Brandon

Once An Owl by Brandon - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

To answer this simply, I had been a night owl for most of my life up until the past few months or so and now see myself more as a morning person. Middle school was where I first saw the wonders of a few extra waking hours in the day and I felt that so much more could be done while sacrificing my sleep. Over the years it became less out of luxury and more out of necessity (due in large part to my bad habits) to stay up later at night and be more “productive” at that time. This added productivity time would only harm me in the long run as I have come to discover, and I have wound up pulling several more all-nighters than I know were necessary as I came to rely on the late hours to get my “creativity” flowing. This method worked for me throughout high school as there were less repercussions to my decision to be productive at night.
Now enter my first year of college. I still have the same habits carried over from high school and I think these are going to translate over perfectly into these higher-level courses. Long story made short, they did not, and my grades suffered heavily in large part due to my lack of sleep and choosing the life of a night owl. Something had to change and the first area I have tried to correct over these past few months of my sophomore year has been my sleep schedule and when I choose to be productive. For the most part, long gone are the days where I preferred to stay up late night working rather than choosing to wake up early and get my work done in the morning.
Nowadays, I consider myself a morning person, preferring to go to bed by midnight every night and waking up anywhere between the hours of four to six o’clock in the morning. There is something magical in my opinion of being awake in the lonely hours of the early morning when no one else is awake and all the distractions are set aside to be as productive as I choose to be with these hours. There are no interruptions from my phone such as the occasional text or app notification or any of my roommates bothering me with their loud noises. I now have created a routine in these hours that consist of getting my daily workout, my daily journal sketch, and my daily thirty minutes of reading in before anybody else is awake. My day ends earlier than it used to but now it also starts much earlier.
The shift in my productivity hours has completely evolved how my day is structured and my levels of energy. There is a power to habits and this new morning daily routine has allowed me to increase my productivity throughout the whole day. I feel more energized and motivated to study or complete my tasks every day. I had always heard stories of successful celebrities or CEOs of large companies waking up early every morning and getting a head start on their day, but I never truly experienced it until now that I am more of a morning person. A person reaps what they sow, and I feel I am reaping great rewards and improvements in my productivity thanks to a change in my habits. I once was a night owl but now I am the early bird hoping to get the worm.