With the Fall school semester fast approaching, many are beginning to stock up on notebooks, pens, and textbooks.  As the end of summer vacation draws to a close, students will have to start preparing mentally and physically for long hours of studying, quizzes, midterms, and finals. According to an article written in USA Today, college students on average log in about 15 hours a week of just studying! Engineering students devote a whopping 19 hours a week!! That’s equivalent to a part-time job, which many students have in addition to school work. So how do they do it? How are these students going to school and focusing after staying up all night studying, working, and participating in extracurricular activities?

Many choose to power through their schedules with energy drinks and coffee. Others have been reported to go the extreme and turn to illegal use of prescription drugs such as Adderall. CEO of Co-E1 Natural Energy Supplements, Jonas McGilroy warns that stimulants such as Adderall are dangerous and can cause chronic cardiac problems if abused or taken inappropriately. According to teendrugabuse.org, Adderall works by sharpening one’s mental clarity, focus, and concentration. This prescription drug is an amphetamine and can be extremely addicting. Research indicates that Adderall abusers are significantly more likely to abuse other illegal substances. The alluring benefits of Adderall come with serious health consequences such as increased blood pressure, loss of appetite, slowed down growth rate, sexual dysfunction and depression to name a few. A young male posted on an Adderall Addict Forum, “I love addys been doing it all night not as good as coke but dam it gets the job done it just makes me better at life so I think.”