Student Blog: Trying to Finish the Semester Strong

Burnout hit me hard at the end of this semester. Having to go back to school for two weeks after Thanksgiving and before winter break felt impossible. I had just been at home doing nothing for a week and now I was expected to jump right back into final projects and studying for final exams, but I really wanted to end my semester strong.

There was this final essay that I had to write for my Writing for the Visual Arts class, and I just couldn't bring myself to write it. The topic I chose to write about was "Should artists be tied down to one form of art or can they explore many different forms?" While I love this topic I was having a hard time actually putting my ideas down in writing. I wasn't feeling inspired and just didn't like what I had. Eventually though, I came up with the idea to take the angle of including all of my own artistic practices as support to my argument. This was definitely my toughest final project to get done, but I did end up finishing it right before the deadline because nothing motivates you like a due date.

I had a tough time overcoming feelings of burnout this semester, but I do have some strategies that helped me out during this time. Luckily for me I had a lot of final projects this semester rather than final exams, so I wasn't just stuck studying notes for two weeks straight. Whenever I would get bored of one project that I was working on I would just jump to a different final project that I had to work on. Another thing I did was make sure that I also was taking breaks from work to do other things that I enjoy doing so I wasn't constantly bogged down by all of the work I had to get done.

Another thing that really helped get me through the end of the semester was being part of a staged reading for a new, student-written musical. Evening rehearsals could be exhausting, but it was really nice to have a fresh project to work on to keep me motivated while I tried to finish up work from classes that I've been in all semester.

Even though making it to the end of the semester and finishing strong can be really hard, I'm super proud of the work I have done. For my global theatre class I was able to design some really cool costumes for the ancient Greek comedy The Birds by Aristophanes. I was able to create a strong writing portfolio of all of the essays I wrote in my writing class this semester. I passed my final geography exam. I created a really beautiful photo story following one of the actors in CU's production of The Importance of Being Earnest for my photojournalism class.

Burnout can be tough to combat, but just make sure to take care of yourself and give yourself a break so it doesn't hit you too hard. I believe in you all and hope you too were able to finish the semester strong!