College students are notoriously stereotyped as late risers, and Dartmouth is certainly not the exception. Many of us are quick to complain about our dreaded 9Ls, the class period which begins at 8:50 a.m. Some even bemoan our 10s (10:10 a.m.) and 11s (11:30 a.m.).
There is, however, a small community of early birds who, by the time 9Ls roll around, have already been awake for hours and don’t mind an early start.
Some students become early risers out of necessity, waking up for morning practice or heading to work at an on-campus job. Others simply enjoy the routine of going to the gym or starting schoolwork first thing in the morning.
Kevin Mahoney ’25, who gets up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. every day to exercise, said that rising early makes the rest of the day feel easier.
“After waking up early to exercise, everything’s easy after that,” Mahoney said. “Once you [work out], the day can’t possibly get any worse. So it’s all uphill from there.”
Mahoney implemented his morning routine after an inconsistent freshman year sleep schedule that left him with low energy. Mahoney realized that a consistent morning routine might make him feel more in control — which wound up being the case, he explained. Mahoney said that having a routine at Dartmouth has made his college experience “so much easier to deal with” and also allows him to get the most out of the day.
Even on weekends — when Mahoney takes a break from the gym — he still tries to wake up at a similar time, filling the hours with other activities like schoolwork or getting breakfast.
“You’re always tempted to have that one day off [from waking up early], but it never helps… it only throws me off,” he said. “I just give myself stuff to do on the weekends.”
While Mahoney’s mornings often revolve around the gym, some students wake up early to get a head start on assignments. Mei Xu ’25 attributes her early routine to wanting to avoid late night cramming.
Xu wakes up around 6 a.m. and, similar to Mahoney, maintains a strict schedule, which includes heading to the gym, showering and changing, looking over any readings for class and finishing up homework — all before going to class.
“It sets me on the right track to feel good when I go to class and be motivated with my homework,” Xu said. “Rather than cramming a lot of work into the later hours, I have that time in the morning, and it makes me feel more productive.”
Athletics can oftentimes lead to early wake ups as well. As a former coxswain on the Dartmouth women’s rowing team, Mehar Bhasin ’27 said that each weekday the team had “morning practices around 6:30 a.m.,” meaning that she typically woke up at 5:45 a.m.
When she was on the team, Bhasin said her routine made her more energetic and focused.
“It was really rewarding. You wake up before anyone else has woken up, and you feel like, ‘Wow, I’ve accomplished something,’” Bhasin said. “Especially with such incredibly strong women, [completing] a hard workout when the day has barely begun is great.”
Xu said she also appreciates the atmosphere on campus in the morning, when there’s fog and an early morning breeze.
“It’s just so slow,” Xu said. “There’s really no one on campus, and I feel like that’s a great reflection time.”
Mahoney found that waking up early during winter terms made it his favorite season on campus, allowing him to run outside while watching the sun rise.
“I think [waking up early] was an important thing I realized in the winter to stay sane,” Mahoney said.
While early mornings have their benefits, even the students who maintain them admit it takes sacrifice. Sleep schedules, in particular, can pose a challenge. In order to maintain her routine, Xu tries to go to bed around 10 p.m., though she lets herself sleep in on the weekends and tries to listen to what her body needs. Xu stated that one of the downsides of her early routine can be feeling obsessive about when she goes to bed.
“I had a period of time where I was just so strict that I needed to be up early. If I did start my day off later, I felt like I was so off-balance and really gave myself a hard time about it,” Xu said. “It’s important to find the right balance for you and realize that waking up a little late is not the end of the world.”
While Bhasin enjoyed her early morning workouts, she explained that getting enough sleep can be a struggle because of academic or social demands.
“I stayed up late quite a few nights doing work or being with my friends,” Bhasin said.
Whether it’s to hit the gym, get ahead in class or attend an early morning practice, there is a clear presence of people on campus who enjoy an early start to their day. Many of these students find that getting a jump on the day allows them to start on the right foot. While Dartmouth mornings may seem quiet, a select number of early birds take advantage of the wee hours, before the rest of campus wakes up.
