At the beginning of the pandemic, and even further into it, many students’ schedules consisted of online classes, which meant they had a little more freedom to do what they wanted, especially if they were at home. Coming back onto campus and having more hectic and less flexible schedules is causing more students to feel burnt out.

Lauren Bruns, a sophomore at Marian University, has really felt the effects of burnout. “Going from being at home and on my own schedule to back on campus and thrown into all my different involvements has been kind of tough,” she said.  Lauren is involved in several different places on campus, and her schedule starts at 8 am and she is not done until 10 pm, and that often doesn’t include time for homework, just class, and meetings.

With the return of in-person classes this past year and the continuation of the pandemic, many professors have opted for hybrid and asynchronous options. Some students, like Judah Gustafson, a sophomore at Marian, belives this has created a feeling of instability in his schedule. “My professors seem to switch it up every week in terms of classes, especially if there’s a COVID scare.” The uncertainty and sometimes short notice create more stress for students contributing to burnout.

Oppositely, some students find being in the classroom overwhelming. Both because of COVID and previously having little in-person interaction, to now, a lot of it. Bailee Laux, a junior at Marian, sometimes feels anxious about being in the classroom, simply because of the number of people. “I became accustomed to doing class from the comfort of my room with just me, and now I am in a room with 10-15 other people.”

Through this, what seems to be a rollercoaster of feelings and factors, students’ schedules are uncertain and tight. The number of classes/homework, extra-curricular, work, and general busyness all play into this looming burnout over students in college right now, coming back to learning shouldn’t impact a student negatively, but unfortunately, these are the effects we are seeing.