Student burnout has seemed to be a recurring issue in our schools today, and it’s showing in our student sections. Between juggling classwork, exams, extracurriculars, jobs, their home life, and more, participating in spirit events going on in their school is at the bottom of the list.
We especially see burnout during the months of October, December, and May. Events such as homecoming, pep rallies and spirit week take place towards the end of the first semester, which is also the time for exams. Everyone is ready for Christmas break, frantically studying for their exams, and trying to manage their usual responsibilities.
Spirit events bring excitement in participating in your school. It’s a fun way to boost school pride and get engaged in your school while also having a break from your workload. However, the overlap between this festive time with the most stressful time in a student’s semester is a potion for chaos.
“Usually I have no time to go to football games,” said senior Emma Yando. “I work two jobs and trying to balance that with my school work doesn’t really allow me to show up to our school’s events.”
Students tend to feel stressed out and feel like things can get crammed. Especially for students already struggling with balancing their school work, the added activities can be overwhelming and might even prevent them from going to these events, especially during the time of exams when people are trying to study and prepare.
Participating in spirit events can really take a toll on students. It adds extra activities to schedules that are already busy at an inconvenient time. Students could be staying up late to study after a spirit event just leading to exhaustion.
“I think it’s hard to balance my work,” said sophomore Aniyaah Jacobs. “Especially when I have a whole bunch of studying to do, but I have cheer practice for an upcoming event, like the pep rally.”
Overall, we see the majority of students tend to avoid participating at all to avoid trying to manage everything. To prevent burnout in our students, schools could reschedule spirit events and testing at times that are more convenient and easier for students to attend and participate in. Students could also prioritize certain tasks and deadlines to what is most important. Being mindful of the timing of school events would provide students with a way to spread out their priorities.
“I think students get stressed a lot during these times,” said sophomore Layla Thomas. “It just seems like everything is crammed and I think maybe if there was a better way to manage all these events it would make life easier.”
