I’ve recently come to the conclusion that my professors have conspired against me to make this week the most stressful week of the semester. This week alone I had three exams, a paper, this blog post, and I have an exam next Tuesday. If that wasn’t enough, I had multiple family emergencies this week as well, culminating together to make me an exhausted, stressed, anxiety-ridden version of my normal self (frankly, these are all descriptors that describe me on a day-to-day basis, but they’ve reached their peak this week).
Although this week is in its own league of stress, I must admit that the burnout I’m feeling has been around long before this week, let alone this semester. If I’m being honest, the burnout has been accumulating since the Fall 2020 semester. I had taken calculus II that summer (a horrible mistake) and had a week to recover before jumping straight into an 18 credit semester. At the time, I thought that I would be able to adjust well enough to virtual learning and that it wouldn’t be too bad – in case you didn’t guess it, I was completely wrong.
I am not someone who is suited for virtual learning. I need the structure and motivation of physically being in an academic atmosphere. Along with my struggle to adapt to online learning, I also started dealing with my chronic sinus issues in November of that semester. By December, I was running on fumes. You might be wondering then, did I cut myself any slack and prioritize my wellbeing the following semester? Of course not! Instead, I took another 18 credits, two of which were honors courses, got a new job as a learning assistant on top of the tutoring I had been doing, and started multiple long-term service commitments.
What I was doing was genuinely unhealthy, but also not uncommon among students. I’ve noticed a common phenomenon of almost glorifying being overworked. The amount of humble-bragging that goes on in college about how many all-nighters you’ve pulled, how many tests and papers and work you have to complete; I can openly admit to partaking in it myself. Even as I was listing above all my activities last spring, with the horror I felt also came a sense of pride that I was able to do all those things. But just because I had the ability to, doesn’t mean I needed to go through with it. And although I am trying to let go of the feeling of never doing enough, it still bothers me on a regular basis.
I’ve yet to find a solution to my burnout despite watching countless Youtube videos and maintaining a strict skincare regimen, but I think cutting myself some slack is a good place to start. Did I apply the absolute best of my abilities to every test and assignment I had this week? No. But I did complete everything and got seven hours of sleep last night, and that’s good enough for me.
Unruly Bodies 
I can relate to this so much, I just had to read when further when I saw the title. I can agree that these past weeks have been a bombardment of assignments and deadlines. Virtual learning is difficult, but in a way it forces you to grow more discipline and time manage, so I guess that’s a plus point I get out of it. The humble-bragging is really a comment that struck me because too many students do it about their all-nighters and an unhealthy amount of energy drinks. I think in a way, the Youtube videos and skincare routine is a way for you to de-stress. Sometimes you have to put your health first, and while you may have not put in the best performance on your tests and assignments for the week, you got good sleep and you’ll start fresh the next week with a clearer head!
I feel this post deep in my core omg. It’s so hard to overcome burnout, especially when college makes you feel like a failure if you’re not going full-time while take challenging courses, too. Especially when things happen outside of school, you get home and it doesn’t even feel relaxing because you have to tend to the things that need you, and then do more schoolwork afterwards. I have to take 5 classes both semesters next year just so I can finally graduate, I’m so over it. And on top of that, finding time to work, socialize (if I even have the mental capacity and energy for that), make time for yourself, etc. It’s way too much pressure on students to get these mass amounts of work done while we’re adjusting back to normal life and recovering from traumatic experiences. Sorry, had to get all that off my chest, lol. Good luck with your semester, we got this!
Hi there!
Unfortunately, I think alot of us know exactly how you feel. Especially, when you have family to take care of or work basically full time. It’s literally impossible to do it all at once but here we are all trying to do it. It’s hard when your in the moment I just try to remember that at the end of the day through all this stress and suffering you’re doing it for you. Yes, these four years are hard af but you’re doing it to make the next four so much better. You’re hustling and working your ass off so you can live that life you want and deserve. Yes, I know the system sucks and doesn’t do much to help us but that’s what I try to think of. I try to think of those core passions I had when I was younger. What did middle school Sydney see for herself at 21? Would she be proud of me now? And the answer is yes, who knew you could do so much and come this far??? There is a huge tendency like you mentioned to glorify being over worked and to me it mostly seems like its from older generations. I don’t know about you guys but my parents are very hardworking and they always pushed and pushed me. I think alot people think that working non-stop is part of the American Dream because it would ideally pay off. We like to think that everyone has equal opportunity and if you work hard you get the pay off (sadly some jobs just don’t pay off, ex: social work). So here we have all these young students, full time in school, working full time, and paying all their bills and this is the new norm. However, my parents never did this, it was go to college or work full time, so why the change?
This has been my constant struggle since like middle school. I used to take 18 credit semesters and work three jobs and have a social life, but as I’ve cut back things I’ve noticed I can’t go back. Which I guess is a good thing. Now I have to take care of myself. But sometimes I long for the me that was over worked and miserable, but damn was I getting shit done. I hated myself and my life, but people were impressed when I told them how much I was doing. I get jealous when people tell me how much shit they’re doing, even as they tell me they only slept 3 hours. I got 10 hours last night, but I really wish I could do more. I think part of the problem is my mental health isn’t good now, even as I am doing less. It’s like, if I’m miserable, I might as well be miserable and productive. But I’m definitely better than I was. And I’m getting better. I guess I’m glad my body won’t let me go back, cause I’m better off with 12 credits. But I still wish I could have it all.
This post is almost everything that I have been feeling lately. School has been taking it out of me in every way. Waking up is hard because I feel like sleep is the only time I get to rest. I have had so much work piled on in the past week I have literally checked my blackboard at least 8 times a day to make sure that it was right. This has been massively effecting my mental health. All I want is a break but I feel like a break does not exist.
I feel this so hard wow. School and sports have been killing me lately. I have no time for anything anymore and it’s so frustrating. I feel like i’m drowning half the time. Exams coming up also has me insanely stressed, so that is not helping. Just know you are not alone!