The morning light is beaming across campus, peeking around ionic columns and awakening the young minds of higher education – and you already hate yourself.

Your class starts in 10 minutes, you haven’t printed your paper and you can’t remember where you put your student ID.

Expletives are mumbled, just soft enough not to wake your roommate. Your mouth is pasty, your stomach is churning and your overstimulated mind has retreated to the clouds. Who could become this monster? Any of us who enter the four years of survival mode known as college.

Even the most studious, organized, type-A high-schooler will spend a morning as the frantic college student. It’s more or less a rite of passage. You’ll hate these moments now and miss them later, or wonder how in the world you made it out alive, with a diploma no less.

The first frantic morning is no doubt the scariest, when you realize Mom’s not there to make your eggs and toast. You need fuel. Something to turn this morning monster into a functional student – awake, hydrated and nourished.

Traditionally, you could take your choice of two remedies: coffee or Gatorade. One dehydrates, and the other pumps the body full of sodium; neither nourishes.

Enter coconut water. Popularized by the natural-food movement, coconut water has 670 milligrams of potassium per serving, while Gatorade has only 39 milligrams in the same volume.

In case you slept through biology class: Potassium is full of electrolytes and keeps your heart pumping, muscles moving smoothly and your digestive tract, well, also moving smoothly. Blend a potassium-filled banana into your drink and your whole body will be moving a little smoother.

Add coffee for a much-needed kick. The haze that’s covered your mind should dissipate when the coffee gets to work on your neurons. For extra sustenance, add protein powder. You’ll find it in all nutrition stores and, conveniently, in many male dorms.

Just three, possibly four, ingredients. So before you run out the door to pick up the pieces of your life that seem to be scattered across campus, throw some magic in a blender and press frappe. No need to sit down to breakfast, you can sip as you saunter (or sprint).