Студенты NIU предупреждают о рисках выгорания из-за академической нагрузки

With the semester underway at NIU, balancing classes, jobs, assignments and social lives can create a great deal of pressure that can lead to burnout for students. Burnout can be described as a feeling of mental and physical exhaustion often due to stress. According to the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, four out of five college students reported feeling burnout during their college undergraduate experience. Teslin Kerley, coordinator of Academic Coaching and Recovery Services, says one of the first steps in preventing burnout is noticing the warning signs before burnout starts to begin. Some of the warning signs Kerley says to be aware of are changes in sleep. Students may have a hard time falling asleep. Some students may avoid responsibilities that they would normally not have trouble completing as well When feeling burned out it can eventually impact a student’s academic performance. Missing class and not turning in assignments can create more stress, making it hard for students to catch up. “I mean, we see burnout impacting student attendance, assignment completion, even just like feeling like you’re capable of going in and talking to a professor,” Kerley said. “So coming out of burnout can also be just as difficult as being in burnout because there’s oftentimes a reluctance to talk with faculty of, like, how can I make up assignments?” One way students can avoid reaching that point is by planning ahead. Kerley recommends students use a calendar or planner to help keep track of assignments and exams. Breaking up larger assignments into more manageable smaller tasks can help make a student’s work load more manageable. If a student struggles with time management, the Huskie Academic Success Center can help students. “Academic coaching within the Huskie Academic Success Center is there to help students kind of make those semester plans, help with time management, but also looking at how can we break down really huge assignments,” Kerley said. “Because that’s also where students tend to start to get really overwhelmed.” Overall the key to maintaining your academic wellness Kerley says is to look at your wellness in an all-encompassing way. “I think maintaining your academic wellness requires you to really holistically look at your wellness,” Kerley said. “I always talk to students about making sure that you’re protecting time to eat, that you’re protecting your sleep time, but also that you’re protecting times that are important for you to like connect with friends, to go to student orgs, because those are things that, like, refuel us, that give us energy, that make us excited and reduces that feeling of overwhelming and anxiety,” For students starting to feel overwhelmed, recognizing the early signs can help make burn out easier to manage.