Career Anxiety, Burn Out, and Feeling Behind Your Peers
How to fall behind at getting ahead
BY QUINN MCCLURG WITH ART BY BROOKE LAMBRECHT
What do coffee shops, bus rides, and my dinner table have in common? I can’t pass by any of them right now without seeing Schedule Builder’s multi-colored glow. All I hear my friends, partners, and peers talk about is which classes they’re going to take and how soon they’ll graduate. I’m happy for them, I really am, but I fail to see this collective excitement as anything else but anxiety-inducing.
Previously, I’ve tried to play the game and fast-track my education. I took 18+ credits a semester, dedicated time to four different organizations, and sustained a 4.0 GPA, all while managing my mental and physical health. Sure, I barely had time to do my classwork, even less time for myself, and no time for friends, but I was saving money, baby! What could’ve gone wrong?
Not too long after keeping this charade up, I got a phone call. I accepted the call, pressed my phone to my ear, and, wow, would you look at that, mental illness and burnout were on the same call; what are the odds? They told me “they’ve been trying to reach me for some time” and “there’s no use in trying to hang up, kid,” but that all changed when I sustained a traumatic brain injury.
Now, I don’t think you need to endure months-long stretches of burnout or successive concussions to learn to slow down like I did, but you should know that it is perfectly ok to do the bare minimum, especially when your physical, mental, or relationship health is endangered. Sure, I can’t afford much right now, but I trust future-me will find a way to pay for my extra time, as long as the survival of current-me is assured.
Also, gap years have helped me realize that it is perfectly ok to take a break to accrue funds for education. As long as you are taking care and advocating for yourself and growing in any way you can, your time is not wasted. More experience is gained, and you will have the rest of your life to go to school.