Students burned out, consider dropping out after difficulties during school year

A global pandemic, social unrest, personal problems and academic struggles this year increased students’ burnout and decreased their desire to continue to study at Ohio State. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor

Students have crossed this semester’s finish line after an unprecedented and exhausting year, and some feel more burned out than ever before. 

Amidst a global pandemic, social unrest, personal problems and academic struggles this year, some students said increased levels of burnout led to a decrease in their desire to continue studying at Ohio State. 

“People think that advisors shouldn’t be telling you to leave the university — it’s Ohio State, I want you to finish,” Amy Collin-Warfield, an advising specialist with SpringForward, an academic support program for first-year students, said. “Sometimes though, you really need to take a step away, so that you can finish in the long run. There’s no one right way to do college.”

Collin-Warfield said she works with two types of students: those who need support and others who need time off. She said she has had more appointments with students this year than in years past, and many bring up personal concerns during their advising appointments. 

“I always try to validate the student’s feelings. Like yes, burnout is real, the world has been a dumpster fire, the world is blowing up,” Collin-Warfield said. “Every week I’m talking to someone who has these feelings.”

Chinadoll Cowan, a third-year in communication, said even though she knew her courses would be delivered online, she was excited to transfer to Ohio State in the fall. 

“Within that first week, everything was great,” Cowan said. “I was super excited to be at OSU, because I’m new here and wanted to get that OSU experience that everybody talks about.”

Cowan said she felt she balanced her classes, her job and caretaking for her mother fairly well throughout the fall semester.

Her mother’s health issues worsened and she was sent to a rehabilitation facility for about a month, Cowan said. At the time, Cowan was her mother’s only caretaker and though she missed her, she said her mother’s absence took a weight off her shoulders, allowing her to focus on Ohio State and her job. 

“It was only a month, and she came back home and everything was perfectly fine,” Cowan said. “My first semester at OSU, it went really, really well.”

Unlike Cowan, La’Bria Williams, a first-year in pre-nursing, said her first semester was difficult. In addition to managing the transition to college life and performing well in difficult STEM classes, Williams said she had to adjust to life in a pandemic with constant social isolation. 

Williams said she thought about transferring to a different college because she felt neglected by the university and her professors. 

Socially, Williams said she struggled with everyday conversations and, as a Black student, was drained by a lot of the issues surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I burnt out around mid-November, right before Thanksgiving,” Williams said. “It was just really hard to have to work 24/7 at 100 percent for a whole entire semester without any kind of break.”

For both students, their feelings changed come spring semester. 

Cowan said this semester hit harder and her fatigue grew stronger. She not only disliked her online classes, but her mother’s health continued to decline.

On March 9, Cowan’s mother passed away. 

“At that point, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this can’t be real,’” Cowan said. “I was 25 at the time, and I didn’t know how to deal with any of that type of stuff, like life insurance and the funeral.”

Cowan said she still had to handle her job and classes while she dealt with the death of her mother. Overwhelmed and shutting down, she said she took two weeks off of work and one week off of school, but the break wasn’t enough. 

Cowan finished the semester, but said she is considering taking off the upcoming summer and fall semesters. 

Williams said her feelings were more positive during spring semester. She said she identified the source of her burnout and took on a lighter course load in an attempt to prevent a second wave of negative feelings.

Rest, Williams said, is the most important part of recovering from burnout. 

“Resting includes sleeping. Resting includes taking a break from schoolwork, from social media, and doing those self-care skills that you practice normally,” Williams said. 

Collin-Warfield said support is available for students who struggle or want to take a break from their courses after this challenging year. 

“Now, more than ever, it’s okay to ask for help,” Collin-Warfield said. “Wherever you are in your college career, it is okay to do that. No one gets through college alone.”