In an article published on Oct. 18, Vox labeled the new era of students as “the burnout generation,” discussing academic burnout and its side effects, and 5C community members have not gone without noticing its presence on campus.
Vox’s article is only one of many on these recent studies, with another article from Research.com highlighting how “45% of American college students claimed to undergo more than average stress.”
“Gone are the days when people were quick to dismiss stress as a normal rite of passage or a necessary evil,” the article states.
Catherine Calhoun, director of the Student Disability Resource Center at the Claremont Colleges Services, had her own theories on the increasing number of burnout studies.
“I’ve been doing this for about 20 years, and I would say that since COVID-19, I do think that students are displaying more signs of being burnt out,” Calhoun said. “I don’t know what that could possibly be attributed to, but I do think that the more fast-paced nature of our day-to-day lives is my personal opinion.”
She drew further connections between burnout and mental health.
“Once a person reaches that level of what they would consider ‘burnt out,’ what they’re actually exhibiting are signs of a mental health crisis,” Calhoun said. “Usually burnout is actually a symptom of something that’s underlying that the student needs to take a look at and get addressed.”
She recommended three pieces of advice for students: have extracurriculars, find time to sleep and don’t attend every activity.
“Sometimes you have to say no, even to some of your best friends,” Calhoun said.
Students, like Jade Sorenson SC ’28, expressed having had personal experiences with burnout.
“Burnout prevents me from doing [assignments and personal projects] and makes me feel like it’s my laziness or unenthusiasm that prevents me,” Sorensen said.
Janet Perez PO ’27, who serves as a sponsor — an informal adviser for first-years in residence halls — at Pomona, elaborated on her own definition of burnout.
“You basically lose all motivation,” Perez said. “You get stuck in a loop, you can’t be doing work, so you stop working, and you are happy not doing work.”
She explained that in her role as a sponsor, she is in the position to assist anyone struggling with burnout.
“As a sponsor, we’re just here to connect you to the resources available,” Perez said. “We do receive training in terms of if someone comes up to us with problems, how would we approach them and how to begin and lead a discussion, but we aren’t really assigned the job personally to do that.”
Perez also mentioned one of the initiatives the Claremont Colleges have already taken to support students.
“[The 5Cs] have a lot of events at Smith Campus Center particularly,” she said. “I know they also give goody bags with a bunch of stuff to get you through finals week when it’s the end of the semester.”
Sorensen also gave their own advice to fellow students who are experiencing burnout.
“If I can, I just want to remind people to put themselves and their mental health above everything else,” they said. “You are the most important thing in your life.”
Calhoun encouraged students to attend events held by the Claremont College Services in order to help prevent burnout and increase mindfulness within the student body.
“Most events are listed on Engage and I want to draw special attention to the Taco About It Tuesday events held at various dining halls around the 5Cs,” she said. “These events give students a chance to interact with various members of the Claremont Colleges Services Student Affairs departments and talk about different topics.”
Calhoun explained that although there are plenty of resources at the 5Cs for students dealing with academic burnout, there is another problem.
“I think the bigger issue is getting students to attend [the programs],” Calhoun said. “I would definitely recommend students to check out the MCAPS webpage, their campus Engage webpage as I know that we are pushing out a lot of information there. “
By bringing awareness to the topic, Calhoun wants students to know the support they have.
“A lot of students are feeling it, professors are feeling it, faculty and staff are feeling it,” she said. “You’re not alone.”
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