Since the 2020 global pandemic, many people have reported feeling “burnout” on a much larger scale than ever before. Before 2020, “burnout” wasn’t a term you’d hear often, but suddenly this phrase started to pop up everywhere—leaving many wondering why this has become such a phenomenon in our society.

This can be related to the severe changes that we were all forced to undergo during the pandemic, especially during the lockdown. This affected college students in a way that hasn’t been seen before in recent history. College students had to uproot their lives, adjusting even more in a period that was already meant for adjustment.

Coming to college is a huge step for anyone who wants to further their education, but when you add the pandemic into the mix, the circumstances for the student become so much worse. These constant changes proved to be too hard for many college students to keep up with, resulting in an increase of students feeling burnout: from 40% in August 2020 to 71% in April 2021. 

Not only were students of this time expected to adjust to their brand new college lives, but now they were supposed to do this “pandemic style,” which included a whole imaginative set of individual skills that we were not taught. Instead, we were forced to dive into this unexplored setting in an atmosphere where nobody knew the best way to deal with this pandemic—not students, not professors, not universities and not even our governmental leaders. 

In addition to the communal burnout that is being suffered by college students during this time, students have also reported having felt more anxious and depressed, with fewer coping mechanisms than what has been reported previously. 

In today’s society, where there is a constant uphill battle for the upcoming generations due to external conditions such as the pandemic, it is difficult to place the blame on students enduring the consequences of circumstances that are completely beyond their control.

It is unfair to simply expect students to be okay with these continuous changes and continue to do well academically. With little to no resources, this is a ridiculous and unreasonable expectation. It is ludicrous to hold students to the same standards while the situation has changed.

Gen Z adults (18-23) have reported feeling significantly higher stress levels than that of previous generations who have come before them. Of these Gen Z adults who are in college, 87% of them directly link their stress to their education, oftentimes resulting in burnout. 

The independence that was needed from students during this time was simply not realistic for their success. Between coming to college as is, and then having to adjust to remote learning, isolation and blatant loneliness, this poses the question- does the burnout come from the workload or the isolation?

Personally, I believe it is a bit of both. Even the most committed student would have a hard time adjusting during these times. When bringing the lack of a social life into the picture as well, this can only worsen the already horrible events.

With all of these factors, I think it’s impossible not to feel burnout. I also believe it is completely unreasonable to have expected anyone to do well given these circumstances, but especially college students. After all, we are in a growing period, in between being kids and adults. Most of us still rely on our external resources for support. 

All in all, students who have experienced burnout deserve a break. At the very least, it’s about time that we cut them some slack. In this state of the world, the progress students have been able to make is amazing. Students who are trying to come back from their burnouts deserve forgiveness, redemption, kindness and understanding of their extraordinary experiences as college students during a global pandemic.