Many students usually curse the morning bell that is usually rang at around 4:30am to alert them about that special time that they should be up to take a bath and rush to class to have personal studies; most of the time for not more than one and a half hours.

Indeed if we try to listen to their groans, we might as well feel pity for them and let them sleep. But is the world ready to wait for them to have a good time in their beds? What about the stiff competition among students from other parts of the world? Time surely waits for no man.

Morning preps have been very beneficial to students, especially when it is still dawn and the sun has not come out clearly. It is at this time that the minds are very fresh and the environment is too quiet without any interruption except may be to the sound of mosquitoes trying to quench their thirst.

Students can dedicate this time to study subjects that need a lot of concentration, especially Sciences. One can calculate several sums and as well try to solve them amicably. For subjects like Physics and Chemistry, one can attempt to examine himself on taking a full paper that may run for two hours and thereafter give his teacher to mark for him.

Another positive element gotten from morning preps is that a student is able to juggle his mind with revision of things taught the previous day and be able to connect them with what they will be taught in the next lessons. Since the mind is still fresh and the body is energetic, the rate at which the concepts will be understood is very high. No wonder some schools start their lessons very early in the morning and finish them by mid day.

It is, therefore, necessary for a student to plan ahead so that when he wakes up early in the morning, he is already focused on what he is going to study. He will even be grateful to the bell ringer for having reminded him that it is time for serious business. What a student needs to do is to timetable himself very well and arrange his books in the right order so that when he steps into class, there is no wastage of time.

Since practice makes perfect, students who find hard it hard waking up early should try and discipline themselves by getting an alarm that will make them wake up on time. They should make a covenant with their friends or parents that they will strive to wake up early and read their books. If they do this for some time, then waking up early will not be a problem but routine.

I strongly believe that the early bird catches the worm and, therefore, I would like to urge student to use this time well. Someone once told me that if you want to sleep in the future then you should wake up early today. This implies that if you persevere and work hard today, you shall be successful later on and will not have to rush to work early so as to clean the office before the boss arrives.

The writer is a postgraduate student at Mt. Kenya University.