Nonstop classes, stacks upon stacks of homework and demanding expectations all lead to one thing: burnout.

Fatigue, anxiety and depression are all caused by burnout. This is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by elongated stress. 

“Burnout is when you are doing something so much to the point where you feel mentally and physically exhausted,” said 7th grader, Prisha V.

Burnout is a real condition that inflicts damage on one’s mental and physical health. It causes exhaustion and reduced performance for activities and often leads to depression. 

“My parents put a lot of stress on me by enrolling me in extracurriculars while maintaining good grades, so I just felt like I didn’t want to do anything anymore,” said Prisha.

Most students have experienced feelings of burnout, and their stories share similarities.

“I am currently enrolled in a ton of stuff, both inside and outside of school. In one of the classes (kung-fu), I went there for 10 years and it has just become a bore to me,” said former Day Creek student, William T. 

As a freshman in high school, William partakes in a myriad of extracurricular activities. His workload has become especially challenging, due to his struggle to balance martial arts, wrestling and honors classes. 

The main cause of burnout is the expectation to perform well in order to live a good life in the real world. While most teachers state how they are “preparing us for the next grade,” the workload has become a prominent part in students’ lives. 

“I feel like the teachers in high school don’t really care whether you have extracurricular activities or not,” said William. “I’ve seen the videos on YouTube that compare high school teachers being strict and giving stacks of homework in contrast to college teachers conversing with their students and having a good time overall.”

The level of work expected of students can lead to burnout, due to the increasing pressure to get it all done in a day. Escaping burnout is difficult, due to the overwhelming emotions the student may possess. The person may not feel like working, so burnout may feel impossible to escape. However, acknowledging the problem is a sufficient solution. 

“I started focusing on the activities I enjoyed more, so I didn’t put as much pressure on myself. These changes allowed me to just be human, and I could see my grades increasing as well,” said Prisha. 

Upon focusing on themselves, students are able to escape the grasp that creates burnout. The next step is to mitigate it from occurring again.

“If you prevent it from happening in the first place, you’ll never see it do damage,” said William T. 

Burnout is not something to be joked about, as it can result in serious mental or physical problems. 

“I’ve seen a lot of my friends go through burnout due to homework from school, and I think it’s becoming a problem, especially since they’re not in high school yet,” said Prisha V.