Joining as many clubs as possible, attending guest lectures, meeting new people, playing sports, making meaningful connections with professors, working on campus, and taking challenging courses are all aspects of college that are encouraged to students here at Conn. While many of us take on multiple extracurricular and academic engagements, we are not warned of the key to long term success in college: a work-life balance. Whether it be through admissions, the post office, athletics, or on-campus coffee shops, there are plenty of ways to earn some money through the school. As these jobs are lumped onto the growing pile of expectations for students, a major question looms: is it all sustainable?
To explore the topic of burnout among our student workers, I talked to a few students who work jobs as a part of their everyday schedule. For Hannah Boldt ‘23, it was only in the accompaniment of varsity sports that she experienced burnout. Working 5-10 hours in the varsity weight room and gym, she now enjoys her job and is able to do homework while she works. Boldt appreciates the opportunity to learn as an aspiring collegiate strength and conditioning coach. In contrast, her time playing for the women’s soccer team proved to be too much of a workload for one person to handle sustainably. In her words, “I have experienced burnout as a student, but not because of my job. It has been a result of balancing sports and large amounts of schoolwork. It happened when I felt like I didn’t have enough time in the day to accomplish both.” The sustainability of student life compounded with so many extracurricular expectations brings into question the presence of balance between students’ schedules and personal wellness.
Will Bryant ‘23, a member of the men’s cross country team and the acappella group Connartists, has had similar experiences of working through burnout. As a barista at Coffee Grounds, he works about 9 hours a week in order to keep his commitments manageable. Will reflects that his enjoyment of his job is what allows it to be sustainable with his schedule as a busy student. He comments, “With how busy my schedule is, especially towards the end of the semester when I might have a lot of performances, my season is wrapping up, and I have big assignments due, it makes it hard to get excited to wake up early and work. The main reason for my burnout has been overcommitment, especially when I need to give my brain a rest.” Similarly to Boldt, Bryant has “experienced burnout in the past,” but has found the necessary tools to work through it and create a manageable lifestyle as a student worker.
It might be key to point out that both of these examples star students with very social, engaging jobs, and who are upperclassmen with experience creating efficiency and sustainability within their schedules. But, as Bryant puts it, he “know(s) many people who work other jobs on campus that they don’t enjoy.” If jobs are not perfectly aligned with student’s academic and extracurricular commitments, they might be serving greater harm as causes of burnout than they are doing good.
Burnout seems to occur when an individual is overwhelmed, causing loss of motivation. This might be from lack of time, the monotonous nature of work, or simply being close to the end of college. It is difficult to distinguish how much burnout is impacting our student population here at Conn, but especially for students newer to college, these negative feelings toward everyday life could be detrimental to success and fulfillment. As a school, we make efforts to support students’ mental health through the Office of Wellbeing, student counseling services through the health center, and clubs or organizations like The Hidden Opponent. Despite these efforts, burnout is a word thrown around more and more, whether it be something of the past, present, or future of students’ lives. Even as a senior, Bryant still struggles to take a step back and find a balance: “It’s hard to always be moving from one thing to another, yet I feel like I’ve [dug] myself in too deep to dial back and give myself a break.” •
