Starbucks, Rockstar, Monster, Red Bull.

These are teens' fuels of choice.

With the WASL, SATs, college courses, homework, sports, deadlines, college applications and other extracurricular activities, today's high school students are staying up late just to stay on top and get ahead.

We are getting less and less sleep and arrive at school exhausted. To be able to function in the classroom, we are using the best legal "drug" at our disposal: caffeine.

Nowadays, it's rare to see a teen awake and alert without a coffee cup in their hand. I know what it's like to depend on caffeine to keep you awake during class and awake late enough to finish your homework.

For students who want to succeed and get into that dream college, we feel the pressure to excel in everything. Whether it's our homework, jobs or relationships, we strive for perfection. But with so much piling up on our plates, perfection is slipping from our grasp along with our sanity.

So we use caffeine to stay alert.

I recently went for six weeks without any caffeine, giving my four daily cups of joe. Throughout this time I noticed a great change in my personality and quality of my school work. I was much more introverted and tended to forget more things than usual. I would forget about assignments or responsibilities.

I suffered because nothing had changed; I still had just as many duties, but I had no fuel to power me forward throughout my day.

So, needless to say, after my six-week experiment, I was again sucking down coffee like oxygen.

Now, most everyone knows too much caffeine isn't healthy. It can cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, irritate ulcers, cause headaches and be quite addictive. Basically, caffeine is a legal drug. And it is readily available for a tired teen on a deadline.

The high of unlimited energy you get from caffeine is very appealing. Many teens today think caffeine is a "safety" drug. We consume basically unlimited quantities of it and suffer relatively no negative consequences.

I know from personal experience how easy it is to become dependent on caffeine. It can be as addictive as cigarettes. Though the two can't quite be compared on the same level, caffeine does have its downsides. Quitting caffeine after prolonged use can cause you to go into caffeine withdrawal, a real syndrome that can result in headaches, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and just general grumpiness.

But, most teens don't feel they have a choice. Honestly, I can only think of one person I know who doesn't use caffeine to get through the day. Most women I know drink coffee, while most guys I know drink energy drinks like Monster or Rockstar.

Though I mostly see this trend in a high school setting, involving students, many others use caffeine as a way to get through their work day: teachers, bus drivers, bank tellers, truck drivers, doctors, even parents, among others.

In today's world, it's the sad truth that we just wouldn't function as well without cutting our duties in half or chugging that daily cup of java.

* Chelsie Standfill attends Highland High School.