Ah coffee, glorious coffee. For the past three years you’ve come to my rescue. You see, as a caffeine lover, I have grown to rely tremendously on you.

You picked me up in the morning, right after downing cup number one, and at lunch, you gave me the strength I needed to survive the remainder of the long day ahead.

You even provided me warmth in a school where it seems to feel like winter all year long. You were always there for me.

RIP my friend. Since coffee can no longer be sold in Connecticut public schools, long are the days when I can easily purchase a simple cup of joe in the Staples High School cafeteria.

So I can’t say I’ve been handling it too well, and I’m sure all you other coffee lovers out there are experiencing an overwhelming sense of deprivation.

So why turn the students of Staples High School into sluggish, caffeine deprived zombies? Who could do such a thing?

Well, according to the State Department of Education (SDE), “Section 10-221q of the Connecticut General Statutes prohibits the sale of any caffeinated beverage to students in public schools. Caffeinated[ as well as non- caffeinated] beverages such as tea and coffee cannot be sold to students in any grade levels in public schools.”

Yet Connecticut’s policy is stricter than the United States Department of Agriculture’s guidelines, which notes that in high schools, “Food and beverages may contain caffeine.”

But if the motive behind this new law is to improve the health of Connecticut’s students, the SDE should have let us keep our coffee.

According to NPR, a daily dose of tea or coffee can help reduce the risk of stroke, as well as Type 2 diabetes. The same certainly cannot be said about fatty foods such as chips and french fries.

Now, isn’t it a bit strange that beverages with actual health benefits have been banned, yet plenty of  junk food remains, sold to us in towering stacks ?

Whether it’s a health issue or not, for the sake of my first and last period teachers who are forced to watch my eyes droop to a close, please bring back our coffee.