Excellent for Not Studying

Pretty Colors and Soothing LiquiScape Within Pen May Have Prevented Student's Nervous Breakdown

Students need highlighters, and they also need distractions. These highlighters provide an excellent distraction.

First, note the pretty colors: they appear just as pretty highlighting a line from The Sound and The Fury as they do in the package. The way the tips glide against the page is very satisfying, and the layer of color is not too dark to read through. They are dark enough, however, that if they are the only pen you have available and an attractive fellow student asks if you would like to get together later for some studying back at his dorm, you will be able to take down his vital digits with one and not struggle to read them later. The tips are also not too thick to highlight fine print. I am not a fan of using a big, fat highlighter, because after highlighting lines of text from 4pm to 3am, your whole hand can go into spasms. These are a nice size, only a little thicker than an ordinary pen, and still comfortable to use after hours of study. If you fall asleep with the cap off, they won't dry up, but you will probably need to invert them and apply a little pressure to the tip to get the ink flowing again.

Having ten different colors can be helpful when you have trouble paying attention to your study material - sometimes just switching to a new highlighter color can provide a necessary spark to the brain. When I was really on top of my studying game, I would use these for elaborate color-coding systems.

When the pressure is simply too much, your brain is fried, and you no longer recognize the English language on the pages of your books, the see-through barrel of the pens can provide a welcome and soothing distraction. Tilting a pen this way and that will cause the liquid ink inside to slosh back and forth, creating little waves and bubbles. The pens are made this way so you can tell how much ink is left in the pen, but having a stress-relieving busy toy inside your highlighter is a nice plus.

Brightening Days in So Many Ways

It's surprising how a simple 10-pack of highlighters could act so effectively as a mood-lifter. Even saying the words Zebra Zazzle is kind of fun, if you're really hard up for joy in your life. The bright colors and almost slippery glide makes these very pleasant highlighters to use. Although the application feels very wet, they dry quickly, don't smear writing in dark ink under them, don't bleed through the page, and don't get all over your fingers. They also lack an awful smell, which many other brightly-colored, easy-gliding inks seem to carry.

I have been buying this same 10-pack of Zazzle's ever since I was a kid and couldn't venture a guess as to how many I have been through. My sixteen month old daughter is quite attracted to the pack I have at this time, but the darker colors will stain fabrics so I have to keep them out of her reach for now. As soon as she is big enough to use markers, I'm sure these will be an arts and crafts staple in my house again. Maybe when those days come, I will stop associating these pens with my desperate attempts to comprehend literature after 72 hours of vending machine food and no sleep.