I think it was Hour Six of my trek back to Alabama when I came up with this brilliant idea. I’d just crossed the state line when I realized that I’d already been given eyelids for that purpose, but for some reason they just didn’t seem to be doing the trick. Maybe it was because of the rain. I’d had about 45 minutes of undisturbed driving before rain started fogging up my windshield. It didn’t really let up until I was almost home.

These wouldn’t have been my ideal driving conditions even if I’d been in tip-top shape, and I certainly wasn’t. I’d slept poorly the night before because I was plagued with dreams of failing my last exam. I woke up at six to study. I’d been feeling sick, which didn’t help my focus, but I tried to commit as much information to memory as I possibly could in the five-ish hours I stared at my notes. I went to breakfast with Brad around 11:00, since he was leaving for Illinois after I left for my exam, which was a lovely reprieve from the stress.

He dropped me off in front of the Missourian, my home away from my home away from home. I was 30 minutes early, but half my class was already there. We were given two hours to take the exam, but I knew that the sooner I finished, the sooner I was on the road, so I turned mine in a little after the one-hour mark. I rushed home, threw some clothes in a bag and started driving. I was really tired.

It wasn’t unbearable while it was still light outside. Once I got past a stop-and-go construction site and a slowed-to-a-crawl traffic accident around St. Louis, I thought the worst was over. But once I reached my traditional halfway point of Paducah, Kentucky, I started feeling the weight of my sleeplessness.

None of the music I’d been listening to was any help when it came to staying awake. I’d been listening to Edward Sharpe’s latest album, but I knew that was only lulling me to sleep faster. I had a CD labeled, “Mom Part 1” in my car, and I knew it was Avett Brothers of some sort. It turned out to be “Emotionalism,” and after powering through “Tales of Coming News,” I knew I had to start listening to something upbeat if I was going to keep my eyes open for the rest of my drive.

I was passing through Nashville, so I knew there were definitely plenty of country music stations to shift through before I found something loud and recognizable. I settled on 105.9 The Rock, and I was happy with their selection until they started playing, “Double Vision” and I felt like I was being mocked. My heavy eyelids combined with the heavy rain made it very hard to make out road signs and road lines, so hearing that “my double vision is getting the best of me” was disheartening.

Luckily, I was close enough to home at this point to pick up 104.3 WZYP, my local Top 40 radio station. They did not disappoint. The first song they played was “Talk Dirty to Me,” and since I had the volume up very high, I processed the words for the first time, which was hi-la-ri-ous. Next was “Turn Down for What,” which is my ideal staying awake/getting hyped song. It was also encouraging to hear some of the terrible local radio spots that reminded me so much of home.

I’d been dreading the drive ever since I found out that I only had three days to spend at home, but it was so worth it. I haven’t been back since winter break, and I’d forgotten how comforting it is to be surrounded by the familiar. Being home makes me feel like I can do everything with my eyes closed, which is fortunate, because I need to stock up on sleep before my drive back on Sunday.