The Irrationality behind All Nighters

So I have come across another experience that is very different from that of the younger university student, that of the "all-nighter."  For those that may not know the all-nighter is a term coined for the cram session done the night before a test, assignment or presentation. During my week of midterms I had my own version of an all-nighter and it turned out to be a disaster.
To put it into context, Tuesday night I had to submit an assignment, online in the form of a timed essay.  That submission ended with me accidentally deleting my submission thirty minutes into the timed session, cursing profusely and slamming my fist on my solid wood table before collapsing into sobs.  Needless to say my assignment was submitted less than adequate at 11:30pm.  I tell you all of this to help you understand that I was already tired going into Wednesday, I never see 11:30pm anymore.

Wednesday I had school all day and my last class ended with a midterm.  The midterm went pretty well but that class is from 7-10pm and I did not get home until 10:15pm.  I should mention that Wednesday morning I had been given an opportunity to resubmit my botched assignment but I only had 24 hours to email it to my prof. That meant that I had to try to resubmit it Wednesday night after class. I had a statistics midterm on Thursday so there would be no other time to complete it before.  If this sounds a little crazy, it is, welcome to week five of university!
At this point on Wednesday evening my body and my brain were begging me to give up and go to bed, but my ego believed that I could get the assignment done (and still produce quality work).  A philosophical tug of war!
I began writing the essay at 10:45pm and my words would not flow, in fact I could feel my head throb as I tried to come up with another sentence.  Did I tell you that the essay was on Plato and Aristotle for my Social Policy course?  It was a nightmare!  By 11:30pm I could feel sleep trying to  lull my brain into submission.  I was distracted, irritable and losing faith in my ability.  At midnight I started wondering how important 12% (the value of the mark for this assignment) really was in the scheme of my academic career?  By 12:30am I realized that the 20% I would be forfeiting in my statistics midterm that morning would probably make me more miserable.  So I packed up my computer and headed to bed.  Yes, that was it; my all-nighter lasted until 12:30pm. Did you really think I could last 24 hours without sleep?
The next morning my head was fuzzy, my body ached and I could not concentrate (and I slept for six hours).  I wrote my midterm and I did pretty well.  When I got the test back the next week and looked at it, I made some mistakes that were a product of my tiredness, silly things that I should have done better on.  I cannot imagine what would have happened if I would have stayed up all night.
I am too old for the all-nighter; I am too old to stay up past midnight.  The realization that has come to me is that all-nighters are for the young, let them have it and I will work on the weekends instead!