We are rapidly approaching the end of the semester. This time is often one full of many different emotions for students. Some students feel sad as the end of the semester marks a significant transition in the pace of life and many people miss the friends they are typically surrounded by during their time at Asbury. Other students just crave the end to the busyness and rigor that being in school brings.
The end of the semester also marks a period of some of the most academically demanding weeks in the year for students. Parents and other support figures often try to be supportive by saying things like “Finish strong!” Yet, sometimes this sentiment seems to miss the mark in terms of what students are actually experiencing.
Sometimes the exhaustion extends beyond what can simply be “pushed through.” In 2019, the World Health Organization defined burnout as “a syndrome associated with chronic stress that goes unmanaged.”
It is important for students who feel overwhelmed to work towards addressing these feelings because the mental health consequences associated with burnout can increase over time.
According to NPR, burnout actually has three different components. The first is “exhaustion — physical and emotional — you feel when you’ve been too stressed at work for too long.” In addition, people experiencing burnout often feel critical of their own work and begin trying to do as little as possible to get by. Finally, people will question why they were not able to keep up with their workload and begin to blame themselves.
Fortunately there are a number of things that students can do to address these issues. At some point, students will need to recognize if they are truly overcommitted. While it would be ideal to avoid these situations in the future, for the time being the next step is to just begin to prioritize what is most essential. Also, it is important for students to recognize they have limitations and just committing to work longer and harder might not address the full extent of the issue.
Getting through the next two weeks of classes might be challenging, but incorporating a few of these strategies and moving forward with awareness about this issue can help students make the most of the time they have left.
