Homework at the ‘Bucks is common for SLOHS students. Photo Courtesy of freshman Zara Sedeek.

 San Luis Obispo High School students and teachers drink coffee, but why? According to recent studies, coffee drinkers live longer, and have a lower likelihood of things like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even depression.

Most people don’t know this, so why do they drink it anyways?

Is it to stay awake?

Because they just always have?

Or simply because they like the taste? 

  “It just tastes so good! I also drink coffee all the time at school because I can’t focus without it. If I don’t drink it one morning, I find it hard to stay awake,” said freshman Claire George. 

  The coffee drinking community at SLOHS does not only like coffee a lot, but they may actually need it to get through a normal school day without falling asleep. In other words, getting good grades depends on their coffee in the morning. 

  Coffee is also usually an added dose of cream and sugar in the morning, but that’s not the only reason it tastes so good. When coffee beans are roasted, volatile compounds are produced, and that’s what gives coffee its delicious taste.

  “It’s like a ritual, like I grew up with my parents drinking coffee, so as an adult I do it too. It’s also a chance to be social in the morning before I go to work,” said English teacher and two cups a day guy Scott Nairne.  Coffee acts as a chance for SLOHS staff to get social before having to teach all day, and for adults in general, it’s a tradition. 

  Coffee is such a diverse and popular drink, in fact,  83.2 percent of teens drink caffeinated beverages regularly. That could be why there are so many different reasons people drink it! 

Sources: theconversation.com, coffeeaffection.com, harvard.edu