It’s 2 a.m., you’re on your second Red Bull. You’ve just finished studying for your big chemistry test that you have to take in a few hours, and you’re about to begin a five-page paper that’s due by three.

Oh, the life of a college student.

Why is it that a majority of students put off homework until the absolute last minute? Forcing ourselves to stay up until the crack of dawn, living on caffeine and sugar and causing significant stress in our lives. It’s a miracle our hearts don’t give out then and there.

I’ve decided that these late nights and last minute cram sessions do not come from a lack of responsibility, but rather come from one of the following: 1) ADHD, 2) an addiction to adrenaline or 3) “bragging rights”.

As a young child it was impossible to keep my attention for more than five minutes, unless of course you were showing me something shiny or making funny noises. I never sat still or focused.

Needless to say, that hasn’t changed. So when it comes time to doing something like reading 50 pages from Eliada’s “The Sacred and the Profane,” it’s all too easy to get distracted by things like Facebook, MySpace or YouTube.

With more children in North America diagnosed with ADHD than the entire world combined (according to Richard DeGrandpre, author of “Ritalin Nation”), along with medication now available for adults with ADHD, who’s to say that ADHD really isn’t the problem?

Adrenaline: that sweet feeling in your chest, heart pumping, hands shaking, forehead sweating type of feeling. The feeling you get when you have a paper due in less than 10 hours, and you’re just starting. For some, this is a very familiar feeling, and that is the way they like it.

Sure, starting the paper a week ago, working on it slowly, little bits at a time and not having any stress would make sense. But why do it that way, when you know you can sit down and do it in a matter of hours with your heart racing and mind running, feeling like you’re James Bond and it’s do-or-die? If this paper doesn’t get done, you’ll fail the class, fail out of college and before you know it, you’re asking people if they’d like paper or plastic.

Who doesn’t feel like a badass when you tell people you stayed up until 3 o’clock doing homework, got three hours of sleep and then went to class?

Knowing that you slept a ridiculously small amount of hours and completed a whole bunch of work makes you feel like Chuck Norris, that you can do anything. You’re invincible, and when people try to play the “poor me” game, you usually win.

So, when you’re up cramming for a test at 3 a.m. and you have class at 8 a.m., know you’re not alone. There are hundreds of other college students doing the same thing for their own reasons, and it is definitely not because they are irresponsible.