Here at CLU, we are entering our eleventh week of school. In some ways, it feels like it’s flown by like it was just yesterday that we were finally returning to campus. In other ways, the past couple of weeks have dragged by at a snail’s pace, feeling busy and exhausted. For many of us, midterms are just over, but discussions about final exams and projects are beginning to creep up. It can feel overwhelming at times like the typical mid-semester burnout feels even worse than in years past.
According to the World Health Organization, Burnout is defined as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It leads to exhaustion, negativity towards one’s situation, and reduced efficiency. While it is often talked about in a professional sphere, it doesn’t just happen to people in their careers. Talk to any college student, and they’ll tell you that these same symptoms pop up for us during our long, stressful semesters.
A problem in today’s attitude towards higher education is that we, as a society, do not properly acknowledge the struggles that students may face. A quick scroll through TikTok shows college kid after college kid, all comparing their experiences of eating unhealthy foods while becoming sleep deprived in an attempt to keep their grades high. It is seen as normal for students to struggle, and instead of helping them out, we say that they simply have to get through it. While there are some wonderful professors who acknowledge the difficulties arising at this point of the semester, there are others who show little sympathy for their students, piling on more work and complaining about those who cannot keep up.
I personally feel burnt out. I have five classes, work two jobs, participate in a club, try to visit my family on weekends, and desperately try to carve out time to have an hour or two of fun with my friends. As the days go by, I find myself waking up a couple of minutes later every morning, and each day find it is getting progressively harder to get out of bed. I’m making more instant ramen and less healthy meals, and I’m taking more naps than usual. I brought my situation up to my therapist, worried that my decreased energy might be pointing towards my mental health issues arising again. She responded that she expected nothing less than this type of reaction.
She reminded me that this school year is not normal, no matter how much we all act like it is. We all spent a year and a half at home, attending school via zoom, and simply rolling back and forth between our beds and our laptops. It was a difficult time for all of us, and the world still isn’t completely back to normal. We still wear our masks in class, can’t invite our friends to our dorm rooms, and have to stay hyper-vigilant that we are being careful. Returning to on-campus classes has been a difficult journey, which makes sense why we all feel incredibly burned out at this point in the semester.
There are five weeks left in the semester, and there is no guarantee that they will be easy. The only thing we can do is take care of ourselves and try not to get overwhelmed. It may feel impossible, but taking time for yourself is essential to fighting the exhaustion. Give yourself a few hours on the weekend to do a face mask, eat some junk food, and watch your favorite movie. Take the semester one day at a time, and remember that your best is all you can do.