Olivia Carofano, Blogs Editor
@OCarofano32144
As school slowly comes to a close and seniors begin to leave for their internships, juniors, sophomores and freshmen wait in anticipation for the day when the bell rings and school is officially over. However, the slow encroachment of June is a burden for all students and teachers. Now that AP tests have come to an end, students find themselves “done” with the year — done with studying for difficult math tests, done writing horribly long essays, done completing labs and done trying to study for a foreign language or any other subject. A majority of students always say “I am so ready for summer” and that seems to be a common theme not only between students but teachers as well. As teachers start to run out of lesson plans and tests to create and distribute, they realize that the year is coming to an end and their current seniors will soon be freshmen in college. But the same does not go for underclassmen.
At the beginning of the year, all students seem to be motivated and prepared for another significant year ahead of them but as we reach the months of March, April and May, students become eager for the year to end. A variety of students take rigorous AP and honors courses throughout the year and on top of that, they partake in sports that have a high demand like football, baseball, soccer and basketball. This might seem great on college applications and impressive to one’s peers but when the schedule’s intensity becomes too high, it is easy to fall behind or “drown” in work. To balance school with extracurricular activities, students may study and complete homework past 12am, just to wake up and start this ongoing cycle over and over again. It’s exhausting.
This burnout can also affect one’s mental health. According to Psychology Today, students present their burnout in different ways, some may have anxiety, panic attacks, being overtired and irritable and they have frequent headaches or stomach aches. In addition, students fail to recognize that this demanding schedule is hurting them. They claim that they are interested in all the topics being discussed in their classes and students often share classes with their friends to make the classes “more enjoyable”. However, there seems to be a collective acceptance of sleep deprivation and being in a constant state of exhaustion that is associated with accelerated or even regular courses. Essentially, everyone is pushing themselves to their breaking point by the end of the year which is leading to burnout.
With the year coming to a close and students becoming increasingly tired by the minute, we need to realize and understand that student mental health is essential for receiving exceptional grades, performing well in extracurriculars and doing whatever it is that sparks your interest. When you are constantly pushing yourself to be the best you possibly can, you can fizzle out and crash. It’s almost like a sugar high, it feels good in the beginning but in the end it makes you feel sick.
