When you walk down the halls in the morning, you might see half-asleep students dragging their feet or maybe sipping out of a Starbucks cup, ready for the day ahead. However, it is debatable if coffee is needed for students to get through the day or if it’s just used for an aesthetic. 

A few years ago, it became a staple to drink Starbucks coffee if you wanted to be VSCO famous or considered “on-trend.” It’s been a few years since it was so popular, and I still see many people with coffee in their hands at school. Are they drinking because they need it or is it a stuck trend?  

“The majority of girls, or people in the school, drink it for the aesthetic,” sophomore Liberty Cowan said. “I think a lot of people also just drink it because they want to say that they have a Starbucks drink that morning.” 

Many people go to school earlier than the rest for extracurricular activities or are in a rush, which might push them towards coffee. 

“It’s needed because oftentimes I don’t have time for breakfast, and it fills me up,” junior Shelby Ross said. 

Dunkin and Starbucks workers see people every day ordering from their menus. You can tell a lot from what the majority of people order when they go. 

“They choose these special drinks, so I think it’s more of an aesthetic, but there’s definitely people who are there for the coffee, like the morning people,” senior and Starbucks employee Caden Jean said. “People need their coffee, and they get a little mad if you don’t get their coffee really quickly.”

If you go to Starbucks now, you see fewer coffee sales and more fruity, sugar-filled drinks that in reality don’t have the caffeine that coffee is made to give.

“I think the majority use it for aesthetics because most of the time whenever they go to Starbucks, they don’t even order coffee. They order fruity drinks or refreshers. It’s not even coffee,” Ross said.