Students face burnout during fall term

Students enrolled in this semester received an email May 26 regarding how State Colleges planned to welcome students back for the fall semester. Deciding on in-person format, there were several changes to the academic calendar, including final exam week being moved to Nov. 23-25.

With a shortened schedule and fluctuating COVID-19 cases, many students and professors are feeling the strain of the semester whether it’s the pandemic, the course work, or a mix of the two.

“This time during the semester is always stressful for me,” Arianna Anderson, 20, junior of Newcastle, Wyoming, said. “However, this year adds an even more burdensome task of applying for the Professional Social Work Program which just adds to the list of things I need to do. I haven’t had a chance to breath and relax in 10 weeks.”

Anderson said she misses the amount of Hub events and Pit dances that the campus held before COVID-19. She also said the semester was better before COVID-19 and though the semester is shorter time to relax and recuperate would help.Bbecause of the lack of break Anderson said she feels burnt out.

Even though upperclassmen have previous semesters to look back on, freshman are struggling just as much, if not more due to this semester being their first experience with college.

“I am so thankful to be on campus for my first semester and have all my classes in-person because a lot of schools are not that lucky,” Creighton Harrington, 18, freshman of Loup City said, “Intramural sports are also super fun to be able to play. I felt like COVID-19 made it hard to get to know people on campus and have events to go to, but the RLA has done a great job with having some events.”

Harrington said that starting the semester, so we don’t have to come back after Thanksgiving makes sense because of traveling and meeting up with family. The pace of classes seem rushed because of the shortened schedule, according to Harrington.

 “It is a little overwhelming for the pace of classes and the lack of break though, especially as you adjust as a freshman,” She said. “A mid-term break definitely would have been nice, but the end of semester is not too far away which will give a long break for us all.” 

COVID-19 regulations caused additional stress for students on-campus with possible classroom changes, on top of the usual stress of a semester. For online learning, it led to extra worry about being unable to continue their education.

“With the pandemic and my distance from campus, I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to take any classes,” Ashtyn Blacksheep, 27, junior of Ditch Creek, South Dakota, said. “Luckily, I have the best academic adviser and she helped me get into classes I could attend remotely. It means so much for me to keep the press on my degree and graduate as intended without having to pause.”

Blacksheep said she feels stressed out because many classes don’t have regular structures, which leads to not have the same detailed course-work schedule. Blacksheep also said it would be preferred to have a semester with a break scheduled in the middle, especially since she uses the break to help her efforts on big assignments.