Students blog

No matter what you’re studying in college, you’ll have a demanding schedule with an over-the-top workload and multiple stressful nights. This can lead to burnout – becoming physically or emotionally exhausted – and happens to many students! Burnout stems from extended amounts of stress or frustration and leads to a lack of motivation. College is the time to dig our heels in the mud and work as hard as possible so we can start a successful life for ourselves. Burnout can be an enemy in doing that.It can be scary to feel exhausted and tired of working when working hard is most important. My goal with this blog is to show you it’s okay to feel tired, but taking the correct steps to manage your hectic life will help you avoid falling into the burnout pit.

You Aren’t Alone

I know fatigue is prominent in engineering students like me, but no matter what major, the majority of students experience burnout. I took a poll of students on campus by asking, “Have you experienced burnout during your time in college?” The question was sent out to a variety of majors. These were the results: 76% of business/political science majors, 84% of engineering students, and 92% of liberal arts/English/psychology majors said they have had a burnout. One hundred and seven of 126 students asked said ‘yes’. This experiment is not perfect by any means, but it shows students across all majors have the same problem. It is important to know how you can avoid it, so let’s talk about it.

Work Ahead

Burnout isn’t an instantaneous “disease” that will kick in overnight. It occurs after you become broken down by the tasks of work, school, and everyday life. Getting rid of it isn’t immediate either. You have to be efficient with your time and work. Without that, it will be nearly impossible to create the breaks that your mind and body need to rest and reset. Try getting assignments done as soon as possible after receiving them to avoid the stress of running out of time. Also, it opens up time later in the week to do activities that will relieve stress.

Manage Your Time

Constantly trying to avoid stress by putting off work and tasks only creates a different kind of stress. Learn to manage your work and spread it evenly throughout your schedule. This method will give each day a little more work, but it will eliminate having one dreaded day in your schedule where a stack of prolonged assignments await.

Take ‘Me’ Time

College… the place where most students get their first taste of freedom! The place where you eat ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The place where you have near impossible classes, and even more impossible assignments. The place where YOU have everything figured out.

I’m sure these are all rumors we’ve heard and thoughts that we’ve shared when leaving our last year of high school and entering our first year of college.

However, the reality of it does not exactly fit that stigma (except for maybe the ramen part).

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things that you’ve probably heard from upperclassmen that are true. The classes are hard, the assignments are even harder, and you have to stay on top of everything, in order to get good grades. But there is one major misconception for both incoming freshman and new students in general. And that is… having your life figured out.

As high school wraps up, students are pressured into selecting their major. Although this isn’t a permanent decision and can easily be changed during your time at any university or institution, it is made out to be a concrete selection.

As a college sophomore, I am here to tell you it’s okay to not have everything under control. There will be times when you feel overwhelmed and completely flustered by everything you have going on. You don’t have to have everything figured out during college. The truth is, most students don’t.