The best methods for students who want to stay up late for live sports games past midnight
HOW do international students manage to stay up and remain awake for live sports games overseas when Australia’s timezone makes it extremely difficult to do so? Trinity College Foundation Studies students Michael Ho, Jessica Zhang and Kenneth To investigate.
We find out what students do to try and stay awake for the big game later that night.
With Copa America having just wrapped and the UEFA Euro Cup currently in full swing, football fans are clearly not short on supply for what to watch at the moment. But these games, and more from other sports in other countries, are usually late affairs with games often starting way past midnight.
For international students who love sport and study in Australia, it can be difficult trying to catch these games live as the timezone differences in Australia are too far apart. Yet ardent fans do stay up during the weekday to catch these games. How then, do they manage to stay up late and what strategies are international students invoking in order to stay alert for these early morning games?
Speaking to students from Trinity College Foundation Studies, we asked them to uncover what methods they found worked when it came to staying awake for these games.
Many favoured talking to friends long enough to stay up late. Others decided that sleep before the game was wise or that snacking or having energy drinks would help keep them stay up.
Interestingly student Nicholas Lee said that studying helped keep him up.
“I know it sounds strange, but I prefer to study as I find that it keeps my mind active throughout the night,” Nicholas said.
Some students prefer to munch away on snacks. Others prefer to study or exercise to stay alert in the leadup to sports games.
Yuki Kaneko, a 20-year-old Trinity College student and football fanatic meanwhile said “in order to stay awake to watch the football games, [he] usually either cook[s] or bake[s]”.
“I find it fun and productive. It also prevents me from being hungry during the game as I have my cookies to eat!”
Another student, Ryan Tjong, who is a tennis enthusiast, found that cardio exercises and push-ups was a must for him in order to stay awake for games.
Ryan claims he finds this method “most effecient” when it comes to keeping his “mind and body active”. As a bonus, it also helps to keep him feeling fit and healthy.
With the Rio Olympics coming up, there’s no question that many more students will be staying up to support their country’s top athletes on the grand stage. If you’re one of those students, here’s hoping some of the above feedback will help you stay up for those games (and hopefully not pay for it in class the next day!).
What methods of staying up for sports matches have worked for you? Do you plan on using any of the above mentioned strategies to stay alert and awake for upcoming games? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This story was produced by Media and Communication students at Trinity College Foundation Studies as part of Meld’s community newsroom collaboration. Education institutions, student clubs/societies and community groups interested in being involved can get in touch with us via meld@meldmagazine.com.au.