What time is it?

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What even is time? (Photo provided by Google under the Creative Commons License.)

Isabelle Brookshire, Copy Editor and Staff Muser

Good morning, midday, afternoon, night, midnight, and twilight hour! Today we’re going to address the thing we’ve all been subconsciously consciously thinking about: time! No, not in an existential-crisis-this-year-is-going-by-so-quickly-am-i-wasting-time-just-by-being-over-the-top-and-inserting-dashes-into-this-sentence-and-how-am-i-a-senior-and-there’s-just-how-many-days-left but in an hour by hour thing. I’ll go more into depth. 

I’m sure we’ve all wondered from time to time our ‘favorites.’ Our favorite colors, animals, clothes, books, movies, people, shows, classes, and so on consciously. However, I’m determined to prove that we all have a ‘favorite’ time of day. Or rather, what I think are the best times of day. 

Showdown… begin!

12 a.m – It’s a classic that’s usually either hated or well-loved. There’s no in-between. I personally think that if it’s the weekend or summer, it’s amazing, beautiful, and wonderful. What could I possibly be doing? It’s different every time! However, in the face of school in the morning, I try to get to bed before it hits midnight. It’s like a weird, Cinderella-like curse will happen if I stay up. 

1 a.m. – I’m either having a very, very bad time writing an essay last minute or having a super, super fun time watching “Markiplier” or my latest Netflix obsession.

2 a.m. – Okay, let’s hit the brakes. I don’t really stay up beyond 2 a.m. Like, ever. So basically from 2 a.m. through 4 a.m., it’s a huge blank spot in my experience. So I’m calling in the professionals. 

According to senior Trinity Delacruz

2 a.m. -Time to randomly get a burst of energy out of nowhere and want to deep clean your room and finish all your assignments and save the world and start like 17 new projects! 

3 a.m. – At this time, you begin to question reality. There are multiple routes to reaching 3 a.m. The most common would probably be binge-watching a new show or scrolling on TikTok. Go to bed. (Interjection: I totally agree. I may not grace the so-called witching hour constantly, but whenever I do, it’s a fun time. I swear it turns into a different reality or something because it always feels so… spacey.)

4 a.m. – Why are you up this late? Early? I feel like this is a weird in-between. Either you woke up early to finish the homework you were too tired to do earlier or… something else. (That’s what I said about 4 p.m.! 4 is just a weird time in general, a.m. or p.m.)

Okay, I’m back now. 

5 a.m. – I actually really love 5 a.m. Unpopular opinion? Maybe. I once woke up at 5 a.m. for a week straight during summer with a friend. I got an incredible amount of stuff done and had so much fun. I literally have never been more productive and… energized? in my life. Now, I can never wake up at 5 a.m. whenever I try… Alas. 

6 a.m. – Similar to the 5 a.m. reasoning, I really enjoy it when I wake up early because it literally doubles my day. I get a good amount of sleep and actually manage to do the things I want to do in a day. However, I also hate 6 a.m. It’s basically the ‘it’s time to get to school alarm’ that I usually ignore. I sleep in for another 30 minutes anyway… So what’s the point?

6:30 a.m. – This is when I usually wake up for school. Yuck. But those last 30 minutes made me feel like I got way more sleep than I actually got, so win-lose-lose situation?

7 a.m. – That’s such a weird time. However, I can’t really fault morning hours. I mean, I can, cause school kind of inhibits my true feelings but… During the summer or breaks? Waking up without an alarm to these morning hours is just so… refreshing. 

8 a.m. – Again, a weird time. School starts about now and… Yeah. That’s all.

9 a.m. – It just looks nice. Nine has a nice aesthetic to it and it also is a nice intermediary stage. It’s like the little sibling of 11 a.m., so I’m a fan. There are endless possibilities! I also just like waking up at this time in general. Not too early, but also not too late, like 10 a.m. is.  Really great (not to mention the weather!)—but not my favorite.

10 a.m. – SO AWKWARD. I mean, not as awkward as going through each hour of the day in excruciating (while also being extremely vague) detail. But, you know. Hurray for 10 a.m.? I don’t know. 

11 a.m. – I LOVE 11 a.m. It’s literally superb. Fantastic. Amazing. Spectacular. Why? Okay. It’s the perfect intermediary. 9 a.m. is all fun and good but 11 a.m. is perfect. 1) It’s midday but early midday, so if I’m getting started on something, it doesn’t feel like I’ve wasted my day just yet. 2) It’s the perfect time for food. Want breakfast? Sure, they’re still serving it. Want lunch? Good news, you’re right on time! Want brunch? Marvelous. 11 a.m. is the literal definition of brunch time. 3) Even on school days, it represents something good. Like the fact that lunch is around the corner or that school is ending in a couple of hours. Not that I hate school or anything, but you know what I mean. 4) 11:11, need I explain more? 5) It’s just really great. Yay!

12 p.m. – Now onto the pee m’s. Sigh. 12 p.m. isn’t that bad by itself, but the fact that it’s at the start of the hottest hours in a day? I’m personally not a big fan. Also, I start to have a sinking feeling that the day is slipping away. Like, what do you mean it’s noon? That’s weird. 

1 p.m. – I know I said that 12 p.m. starts signaling the start of the end of the day but… 1 p.m. isn’t that bad. I just like the number one, I guess.

2 p.m. – School ends! Or… It doesn’t, depending on the schedule. For now, it just signals the start of block 4, so… Pretty mid. 

3 p.m. – The end of school, hurray! But by this point, I’m so tired and drained that I need to take an obligatory two-hour break. Maybe not the best use of my time, but it is my time after all.

4 p.m. – Okay, so that sinking feeling that I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that one. It’s stronger than ever and I truly feel like I can’t—or won’t—start anything at this time. It’s just so… 4 p.m.-ey, you know what I mean? It’s like the purgatory of hours in a day… But it’s also the highest-rated time according to the poll. What?!? *Cough cough* Do feel free to comment down below though. 

5 p.m. – This is pretty okay. It’s just average. It’s like the apple of hours in a day. Basic. (Also have you noticed how often I’ve been saying ‘like’ and ‘you know?’ Such a Californian…)

6 p.m. – This is when time starts to ‘be good’ again. During this time, I feel like I can start my homework or do something fun without much repercussion of it leaking into the much later hours at night. Maybe it’s my obsession with multiples of three’s but again… This time seems like an intermediary. The older sibling of 9 a.m. and 3 a.m.

7 p.m. – Scratch what I said before. This is the true intermediary. So… Just imagine I copy and pasted my previous answer here. I really am trying to get this article done. 

8 p.m. – Much to my dismay, this is when I actually start homework. I usually procrastinate it until now. But I personally think this is the first hour where it actually is night night, you know? 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.? Are they night or just really late afternoon? Yeah, exactly.

9 p.m. – Hey! That’s when this article is being written! Meta. Anyhow, it’s a nice time. If I didn’t sleep well the previous night, this is when I’ll start to feel sleepy. Speaking of it…

10 p.m. – I love 10 p.m. It’s just cool, you know? If it could listen to music, it’d listen to alternative, moody music. Maybe I’m projecting a little too much bias here, but this is exactly when I’ll start to play my alternative, moody music. Also, surprisingly, I’ve been going to bed around this time. Yay..?

11 p.m. – I also love 11 p.m. To make another comparison, it’s the 11 a.m. of the night hours. It’s just cool. Want to sleep? Sure. Want to call a friend? Sure, they’re most likely still up. Want to play some video games or read something? Literally perfect timing. Upon writing this article, I’ve actually found out that I love 11 p.m. It’s one of those hours that I’m always aware of because it is just so awesome.

Shoot. I almost mixed up my times again. It’s just a little weird to have my reviews end at 11 p.m. and not 12 p.m., but that’s how time works. 

No matter what time of day is your favorite, remember it’s all a construct! Time doesn’t really exist in the manner that we have constructed it! It is a human lie! 

Anyhow, enjoy your time!