You have an 8 a.m. class, and you’re done at 9:30. From there, you go straight to work from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then class at 3:20. After you’re finished with class at 4:50 p.m., you still practice. You’re finally home by 8:30 p.m. with a paper to write, an exam tomorrow and a headache you’ve had since noon; tell me again how this is supposed to be normal.
This isn’t an unusually chaotic day; it’s a typical schedule for a college athlete, and reality for many Simpson students.
“I’m exhausted,” or “I got 3 hours of sleep,” are phrases I hear every single day. We’ve normalized exhaustion and burnout.
Students pack their schedules so full, there’s no time to simply exist. Being busy has turned into a personality trait or something to brag about, and we’ve turned burnout into a competition. Who’s the most stressed or overbooked? Who has the least time to breathe?
One survey found over 80% of college seniors report experiencing burnout, and honestly, this number doesn’t surprise me. At a small school like Simpson, it’s even more prominent. Involvement is expected, as people join everything from sports to clubs to internships. When everyone around you is constantly busy and doing the most, it starts to feel like the only acceptable option.
Academics add another layer of stress. Professors assign heavy workloads, often at the same time. Students spend hours outside of class studying, writing, preparing and stressing, and they juggle this on top of practices, lifting or work; the pressure piles up.
If you don’t perform well on an exam or assignment, it’s easy to feel like you’re not enough, or like you’re the problem rather than the impossible schedule you’re trying to survive.
What makes burnout dangerous is how normal it has become. Your friends are tired and your teammates are exhausted. Everyone you pass on campus looks like they’re on their third energy drink and counting down the days until Saturday. No one questions it because we’re all in the same cycle.
Why is it a problem to be busy? Isn’t it good to be productive? Isn’t college supposed to be busy?
Being busy is fine, and being challenged is fine, but burnout is different. Over time, this stress turns into numbness. Rest starts to feel wrong, and if you have a day off, you feel like you’re falling behind. Even activities you used to love, your sport, club or classes, stop bringing joy when you’re stretched too thin.
College is a busy time, but it is also supposed to be meaningful. You’re juggling responsibilities, relationships and entering into adulthood. There’s a difference between being busy and being burnt out, and somewhere along the way, we have stopped recognizing that.
You deserve to have balance; you deserve slow mornings, real rest and time not measured by deadlines. You deserve to experience college; the friendships, the freedom and the fun. You deserve to live it, not just survive it. You deserve to play the sport you love, join the clubs you enjoy and still have energy to be present.
It’s time to stop glamorizing burnout and pretending exhaustion is normal. We can work hard without wearing ourselves down, and we can choose to have balance without feeling guilty about it.
We shouldn’t accept exhaustion as the price of being involved. We’re allowed to rest, step back and be present. Someday we’ll miss living three minutes from our best friends, late-night drives, spontaneous games of pickleball and playing Xbox until we forget what time it is. These years are precious, and maybe slowing down is how we make sure we don’t miss them.
