I made a few saves, and my dad came over to me, raving that he was proud of my first performance and reassuring that missed saves were not solely my fault — it was a team effort. I played goalie for a few more games and soon fell in love with the position.
Maybe I’ll wake up without an alarm, make a good breakfast, take a relaxing bath and tick off things from my spring break bucket list. Of course, there will be moments where I’ll wish I was home, but I’ll remind myself that I’ll be okay. And above all, I’ll take it one day at a time.
Burnout is not a hero’s tale of necessary sacrifice. It is an alarm bell that the harm of our hard work exceeds the benefits.
It is a desperate signal from the body that the scales of work and rest are unbalanced. Symptoms of burnout can include poor sleep, headaches, digestive issues, muscle pain, difficulty concentrating, irritability and a weakened immune system. If taken without context, these symptoms could be easily mistaken for a health condition.
We measure our worth in grades we receive and the deadlines we meet, but never in the amount of time we take for ourselves. Our hard work comes with the price of neglecting our emotional needs.
Part of what drew me to BU in the first place was its prestige and the ability to set its students up for success. I’ve had the privilege of being part of amazing organizations and taking classes with renowned professors. Indeed, the environment I’m in helped me find direction in what I want to do in life. But I also think it’s crushed me within the confines of career obsession.
Dear Doctors,
I’m excited to go home for Thanksgiving, but traveling during the holidays always stresses me out. How do I minimize the stress of holiday travel?
Sincerely,
Perplexed
You might assume the people walking around campus when the majority are home stayed in Boston because of travel issues or the unwillingness to spend upwards of $100 for a trip that lasts less than a week. But no one considers the small group that just doesn’t want to go home or doesn’t even have a home to return to.
The more I thought about my morning of misfortune, the more I thought about the idiom, “When it rains it pours.” Obviously it literally fit my situation, as the torrential downpour raged on, but how did it connect with the series of bad luck everyone occasionally experiences? I wondered, “Where did this phrase come from, why is this phrase used so often and ultimately, why do bad things seem to happen all at once?”
This recent pattern — in which politicians on preeminent stages across the world are willfully and publicly stepping back from their roles as leaders in order to protect their mental health has brought to light a critical debate: At what point should we sacrifice work for well-being?
While the high-stakes environment of some high schools may give them an elite and noteworthy reputation, it often comes at an extreme cost to the mental and physical wellbeing of students who struggled to cope with academic pressure.
While they fight off the pandemic of COVID-19, colleges and universities need to take major steps to help fend off the epidemic of mental health issues on their campuses.
