LIFE HACKS
COPING WITH
story by Leanne Bick | photos by Andy Rios | design by Ileana Rea Martinez Another match fizzles out in a dorm room. It casts the space in darkness and triggers a loss of student motivation: Burnout. It leaves a smoky scent in the air, singes nose hairs and gives the urge to flee. Students blow on smoldering matches, but the wicks refuse to relight. How does one find the will to pick an essay back up after the drive has dwindled? From a lack of motivation to exhaustion and irritability, burnout can manifest in a variety of different forms. It is easy to view burnout as simply a dwindling engagement with academics with no deeper emotional relation, but burnout is truly the bigger problem of an individual’s balance being thrown off. PULSE spoke with CWU students to see how burnout is going against the grain of their grooves, and what they do to combat this unfortunate foe.
Helpful Hobbies
Emanuel Sanchez, a sophomore art and education major, encountered burnout when external work began to feel overwhelming. Sleep became a hobby, and motivation all but a light in the distance. Focus was no longer like a
38 PULSE WINTER 2024
friend, and attempting to rekindle that relationship made life feel a lot more complicated. Leila Brecon, a food science and nutrition major, worked during the quarter and during breaks. The nonstop work ethic took its toll, and the thought of classes became a dread as the quarter neared. Self care was waning for Sanchez and exhaustion was sweeping up Brecon. Fortunately, they each found solutions that worked for them. Brecon intentionally took days off to do whatever she pleased. Sanchez suggests to all individuals with rooms turned to clutter by burnout to use cleaning as a “fresh start.” He also turns to his hobbies for guidance. He picked up his crochet hook and a hefty bundle of yarn and got to work. Sanchez takes valuable time to himself, finding peace through arts and crafts, much like Ashley Ayling, a professional and creative writing major who found that lanyard crafting was helpful to dispel burnout-driven headaches.