College Burnout

This year, the world has been struggling to deal with the coronavirus. The United States has been struggling to handle it for over six months, managing to become the country with the most cases. While many places have been closing down, colleges have been desperate to open up. Without students, colleges wouldn't be able to survive, so they are trying to open as normally as possible in order to draw in as many students as they can. Some colleges are strictly online this semester while others stuck with in person classes. 

Ohio Northern University has pushed to have its students on campus, and they want to keep their students on campus for the whole semester if possible. As of right now, they are doing a good job at keeping any cases contained and keeping the virus from spreading on campus. One of the things Ohio Northern University has done to stay ahead of COVID-19 is bring its students in two weeks early. By bringing the students in early, finals will be over by the time we leave for Thanksgiving, meaning students won't return to campus after Thanksgiving break. Another thing they had done is eliminate all breaks, such as fall break. While I am very excited to be having a full fall semester in person, I am starting to suffer from burnout. We have been going nonstop for the past several weeks, and I feel that it is starting to catch up with me. While I was highly motivated in the beginning, I am starting to see myself become less and less motivated to get my work done. I think the faculty is starting to realize this as well because today we received an email telling us that there would be no spring break in the spring semester. 

However, they were going to be giving us one day off each month, though these days were in the middle of the week so that they wouldn't be giving us a three-day weekend. The reason behind this decision seems to be that they are noticing that students are starting to suffer from burnout. Yet, they don't want to risk there being an outbreak of COVID-19. The university fears that if they give students a break, they will leave campus and possibly contract the virus. Then, when they return, they will spread it to one another rapidly. To prevent this, they are keeping students on campus as much as possible. While I think this is a good idea, I am starting to struggle a bit. I think many other students are as well. Are any of you starting to feel burnt out? Do you have any tips on how to recover? Let me know in the comments. 

Adulting: Staying on Track

 It's easy to get distracted and forget about assignments while you're in college. Classes can be overwhelming, you're in a new place, and you have a social life to maintain. However, this does not mean you can ignore or push off your work. You have to remind yourself that you came to college to learn and get a degree. That should always come first, especially since you are paying so much money to go. While you don't have to be perfect, you should strive to do your best on each assignment. Not just because your grades depend on it, but because it's also disrespectful to your professor to not complete your work. It shows a lack of interest, and no professor is going to want to mentor someone who doesn't care. This especially applies to group work. If you have to peer review someone else's work, you should really take the time to look over their stuff and provide feedback. Otherwise you're being disrespectful to your peers, and they will take notice.

Recently, I've had an issue with a peer in one of my classes not turning in workshop comments. As a creative writing major, workshop comments are very important. They help you to improve your writing and see it from a reader's perspective. However, this student wasn't turning in their peer review comments. Our peer review comments are a large portion of our grade, so not only were they hurting themselves, but they were disrespecting their peers, and their professor. They were several weeks behind on comments, until they finally turned them in to everyone several weeks late. The comments had become irrelevant because everyone had already fixed their writing by the time they were received. The class has certainly taken notice. It's not a good idea to start burning bridges so early on in the school year, especially in a class that is needed for their major.

Please take advantage of the opportunity you have in college and do the best job you can, not only for yourself, but for your peers as well. Let me know what you think in the comments below. 

Adulting: Dealing with Conflict

One of the hardest things to deal with when it comes to roommates is conflict. Most people tend to be non-confrontational, but it's important that you speak up for yourself. When it comes to the house, you are all paying rent to live there. Therefore, your feelings are important, so don't be afraid to talk about any issues you have with your roommates. My roommates and I recently got into a situation where we needed to sit down and have a conversation. One of our roommates had invited a friend over to the house to watch a movie with us. This friend knew two of my roommates very well, but three of us didn't really know him. Everything started out just fine but eventually he developed a bit of an attitude and left our house abruptly, slamming the door on the way out. Those of us who didn't know him were uncomfortable with that kind of behavior. He had been to our house once or twice before, but this was the first time he had done something like that. We were willing to let it go but the next morning he abruptly walked into our house without announcing himself to grab something he had forgotten. He then stormed back out and slammed the door again. It slammed so hard that I actually heard it from upstairs.

My two roommates who knew him just let the behavior go because they were used to it, but myself and my other two roommates did not appreciate him disrespecting us and our home by slamming doors and having an attitude. I made it clear to my two roommates who were friends with him that he was no longer welcome in our home. We paid rent and we had made the house into a comfortable and enjoyable living space. We were not going to allow someone to come into that space who couldn't respect that. While the conversation may have been awkward, it was important for us to have it. It wouldn't be fair for the three of us to have to endure having someone we don't like over at the house. Our other two roommates were very understanding of the situation and told us that they would make sure he knew he was no longer welcome.

Do you guys have any conflicts you're dealing with right now? Let me know in the comments below!

Adulting: Creating Lasting Relationships

 

College can be stressful, but it can also present you with multiple opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. Being in college allows you to forge lasting friendships and relationships, but it is important to know the difference between a friend and a classmate. I have seen lots of people come into college and hit the ground running. They try to get to know everyone and forge relationships with people who have power or authority. While getting to know people is important, people can see when you're not being genuine. They notice you running in between people, even if you don't think they do. Going about college like this will make you plenty of acquaintances, but hardly any true friends. People will see what you're doing for what it is, which is someone who is only interested in progressing themselves. People don't like to be the stool in which you use to stack yourself higher. Furthermore, this tactic never works.

When you enter college, the best thing you can do for yourself is make genuine friends. Hangout with people who have similar interests as you or who are in your major. Be professional to everyone you meet and with your professors. Joining clubs you have an interest in is also important and progressing through that club or organization and getting a position looks good on a resume. However, you don't want to spread yourself to thin. If you join multiple organizations and try to get positions in all of them just because it will look good on a resume, you won't be able to do your jobs properly. For one, you won't enjoy yourself with all the added responsibility. Secondly, you will be doing the bare minimum in order to keep up with everything. Getting a position and doing it right will be far more meaningful than having several positions where you hardly do anything.

I hope any students out there will take this advice seriously. Quality will always beat out quantity. 

Adulting: Overcoming Distractions With Roommates

One of the best things about living with roommates is always having someone around to do things with. However, this is also one of the worst things if you're a college student. Living with other students who have different majors will likely lead to days where you are all on different schedules. Your roommates may have just finished their homework while you still have a mountain of projects to complete. Likewise, there may be times you have nothing to do while they are all studying for an exam. These situations can be difficult because you will likely be tempted to either stop what you're doing and join in whatever activities your roommates have planned, or you will be tempted to go distract your roommates. Neither of these situations is ideal. 

Your education should come first, but that also doesn't mean that you can't have fun. Something you will have to consider is due dates. If it's a Tuesday night and your paper isn't due until Friday, you can likely spare an evening to have a good time with your roommates. However, if you or someone in your house has a test the next morning, it may be a good idea to avoid distracting them. This isn't to say you aren't allowed to have any fun but be courteous and avoid offering them the temptation to begin with. 

Another thing to keep in mind is your own capabilities. If you have an eight page paper due at the end of the week, and you know that you will need to work on it every night in order to get it done, then you should set aside plenty of time throughout the week to complete it. It may take a lot of self-control but remind yourself that your education is more important.

One tip to help you succeed in closing out distractions is shutting your bedroom door. This lets your roommates know that you're busy or do not want to be disturbed. If you're open to speaking to your roommates, or the work you're doing doesn't need your attention right away, you can leave your door open. Another tip is to tell your roommates beforehand that you have something important due that you need to work on. This will help to keep them from distracting you while you're working.

Let me know some of your tips for staying on track down in the comments below!