It’s 11:50 p.m. on a Sunday in Evans Library. The air smells of espresso and panic, and you can feel the tension bouncing off the walls. Somebody to your right is typing like their life depends on it — it probably does — and to your left, someone is using their backpack as a pillow — in the rare case of an empty bench.
Welcome to college! One of the only places where sleeping in public is normal and exhaustion is expected.
With juggling painful 8 a.m. classes, a social life, new household responsibilities, shifts after school, self-care and internship applications that feel like they were due yesterday, Aggies are barely running on fumes. Not to mention, all of the overwhelming events on campus are lucky to find a spot in any student’s calendar. In some shape or form, the word “thriving” began to be replaced by “surviving,” and burnout is becoming a part of the 12th Man brand.
An interesting survey completed by over 800 current college students reveals, “nearly 3 in 4 — 73% — students find school overwhelming,” meaning that more than in all likelihood, half the people you walk past on campus are putting on a good face but are struggling internally.
Mental health is important, so the solution should be to use the resources our tuition pays for, right?
Wrong.
The same study found that “1 in 5 — 19% — students have used their college mental health services,” and “40% said it did not help.” Students are clearly trying to get the help they realize they require, but the demanding workload proves to be too great a weight on a student’s shoulders.
Maybe I’m biased, but Texas A&M has some extremely ambitious students; the pressure feels even more magnified to succeed when all you’re surrounded by are stories of accomplishments. Aggies are taught to get involved while building an extensive resume, but what happens when resumes become our entire lives? Doing just enough is not acceptable anymore, and the line of doing too much has disappeared.
The reality is that many of us are scared to rest because opportunities at A&M go by in a flash, worried that if we stop this grind mindset, then someone else will pass us up.
My nightmares include very similar situations, such as someone less qualified landing an internship I could’ve gotten, or a classmate acing a test when I spent days studying for or only finding out about an amazing opportunity the day after it happened.
So students keep chugging along with their day-to-day tasks, even when there’s no gas left in the tank.
The ironic part is that burnout doesn’t make us better people or employees: It just makes us a little bit worse at everything, with time spread so thin between each undertaking.
For those who are not under the same amount of stress, it can be hard to visualize the sense of pride some gain in saying, “I’m on two hours of sleep right now, this is my fifth coffee of the day,” or “I survived four exams in a row and did an entire group project by myself.”
To anyone else, this dynamic sounds like madness. Which might be true because it’s beginning to sound like exhaustion worn as a badge of honor.
But those small victories are covered up with the impending doom of an assignment around the corner, and the pressure to keep that grind mindset. Every achievement comes with a reminder of what you’re not doing, and in that whirlwind, students are sacrificing self-care for their future. They think it’s only temporary, but it becomes a never-ending cycle.
This is not to say that A&M doesn’t do a fantastic job at hosting events designed to provide fun breaks for Aggies, but that’s just adding another event to already overloaded schedules. Realizing that this glorified “grindset” is the problem is step number one to finding a resolution. Attempting to fulfill everything that falls into your hands isn’t impressive and certainly not maintainable.
Protecting our peace while chasing a difficult goal should be the real mark of success, not seeing how much we can endure before the inevitable crash out. If Aggies were to honor rest the same way we honor working hard, then a culture would be curated to value balance over burnout. That’s a tradition worth keeping.
Aliyah Mims is a finance junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
