Senioritis, junioritis, sophomore slump, freshman freakout, teacher tired. It seems everyone is burnt out by something these days. I have to wonder, why is that? Why are our exhaustion levels seemingly at an all-time high?
To get some answers to this, I surveyed 65 students and staff, asking them various questions related to burnout. Interestingly enough, on a scale of 1-10, 55% of respondents rated their level of burnout at 7 or higher.
Psychology Today defines burnout as “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.”
Another thing I wanted to measure was the cause of burnout. Why is it everywhere, spreading like a disease?
It turns out that, overwhelmingly, school is the issue that’s exhausting us so greatly. Over 64% of people voted that that was the part of life overwhelming them the most. Coupled with that is the burden of sleep deprivation, too many responsibilities, a lack of motivation, information overload, and procrastination.
US History teacher Mike Sisk said the promise of retirement is what keeps him going. He clarifies, “I still love my kids and my classes.” After thirty long years, it’s the early mornings and constant changes in technology that burn him out.
Senior Ella Green blamed a multitude of things.
“I get assigned an overwhelming workload and not enough time to do any of it. It’s so bad I am starting to fall behind…My life outside of school has gotten so busy out of nowhere, and I don’t have time to work on schoolwork. I am so exhausted. I have become highly emotional as if I am going to crash out at any second of any day. Sleep has become horrible, so I am constantly tired.”
Junior Natalie Hill voices the words we all seem to be thinking.
“Being a student is hard enough sometimes. When parents load other responsibilities on you, it can feel overwhelming, especially when you have other things you do outside of school.”
Yearbook advisor Rosalie Batistoni admits that “finding balance is really important. We all go through periods of time where demands in our lives feel gargantuan. When I feel that way, I try to carve out quiet time to reflect and prioritize, which then helps put things into perspective.”
So is that the answer? Taking time for ourselves? Seems to be great advice if easier said than done. It’s a multifaceted and complex issue, but the first step to change is acknowledging its reality.
One of these days, maybe we won’t be so burdened by burnout.
