It is that time of the school year when everyone is burning out. It’s the “home stretch”; use whatever gas you have left in the tank type of feel. So much has changed this year, and life going back to whatever “normal” used to look like is tiring. We became dependent on different ways to not be social for almost two years. Not that we all didn’t want to be social, but because COVID-19 taught us how to avoid interacting with others. COVID-19 shifted our routines and changed what was expected of us. Students did not have to take a written test, attend in-person classes, or do group assignments. It is challenging to break routines once you are comfortable in them. Our COVID-19 practices did not require so much participation in the world.
Now students feel pressure to fulfill the exact pre-COVID-19 expectations as before as time goes on and mandates start to lift. I believe students face burnout not only because it is the end of a school year, but also because a lot has been expected of us in these last couple of years. Students lack the motivation to do extracurricular activities because anything else on the plate seems tiring. That is probably why the Pacific Index is having difficulty filling the pages. Students participate less in nonmandated extracurricular activities with increasing social pressure and a strong sense of burnout. Similarly, the general job market also reflects this hesitancy as more “help wanted” signs can be seen around communities. With the immediate effects of COVID-19 declining, it may take longer than expected for communities such as the student body at Pacific University to return to their full potential. — Emily Rutkowski
Major: Journalism
Hometown: Mesa, Arizona
Hobbies: soccer, track, being outside, hiking, writing
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