Like professional athletes who face physical and mental exhaustion from intense training, high-achieving college students often experience a similar burnout from sustained academic pressure.
College
burnout
is especially common toward the end of the semester. Waking up early for class, staying up late to study, going to lectures, doing assignments, completing projects and taking exams all slowly lead to a point of exhaustion. However, when facing burnout, it’s important to persevere. Yet, I acknowledge that it’s easier said than done.
As a rising senior at UT, I’ve experienced burnout many times, but I didn’t let it hinder my academic and social progress. I recognize when it’s happening, take a break and reduce my workload by pausing some of my non-essential responsibilities. I’ve learned that what’s important is to keep going and moving forward, even if it’s at a slower speed.
I believe the key to success is your ability to persevere. I’ve witnessed the effects of
grit
, a combination of passion and perseverance maintained over long periods. I do it even when I don’t feel like studying or doing homework. This discipline has allowed me to maintain high grades in college.
According to
Forbes
, psychologist Angela Duckworth studied why some people achieve more success than others. As part of her research, Duckworth visited the West Point Military Academy to analyze why cadet candidates drop out. She discovered that a higher academic score and IQ did not determine whether candidates were less likely to drop out. Instead, this likelihood was determined by how much grit they had, which was measured based on
questions like “how often do you start a project and lose interest?” or “how often do your interests change from year to year?
”
I don’t expect knowledge to come my way; I actively seek answers and explanations for the concepts discussed in class. If I don’t understand something, I return to the books, ask my professors or TAs for help, talk with my peers and look online to gain the needed knowledge.
The saying that practice makes perfect sounds cliché, but I’ve found it to be true. For instance, I’ve improved my writing skills the more I’ve practiced writing. Even as I’m studying for the LSAT, I’ve seen my score increase as I consistently study for the exam.
It’s easy to be misled into thinking that success can be achieved overnight or without effort. The reality is that it takes so much more than that. There is no secret ingredient or easy way out. When I feel discouraged, I think about all the unseen effort and hard work that successful people dedicate to their profession. From CEOs to high-performing athletes, there are countless hours behind their success. I use this as inspiration to persevere in the face of adversity.
I owe myself the same discipline to honor my past and keep working toward graduating from college with a high GPA and attending a top law school. It would be unfair to myself to let burnout win and allow my previous efforts to go to waste due to low performance in the present.
One of my favorite mottos is “vestigia nulla retrorsum,” a Latin phrase that translates to “no footsteps backward.” This motto reminds me to always keep walking toward my goals. It doesn’t matter how many steps I take at a time; What matters is that I keep moving forward.
Keep on going, and never give up.
Mendoza is a philosophy senior from El Paso, Texas.
