Student Blog: The Springtime Burnout

As you’ve read from my previous blogs, it has been a hectic semester, and I have reached that point of the semester where the burnout is blazing. There is much to be said in this blog for the singular month of April, both highs and lows, but this is truly the peak of my 2nd year university life.

The weeks have had its excitement and among all events, I had the pleasure of watching my friends perform at the Winchester Theatre Royal on May 23rd, in a revue called ‘Music & Lyrics’ which is a showcase our course puts on yearly that surrounds a specific theme. Last year’s theme focused on specific composers, and this year’s took us around the world with Location, Location, Location! It was staged to seem like the audience was on an airplane stopping at one country to another, The songs ranged from Ireland from Legally Blonde, to In My Dreams from Anastasia and Welcome to the Rock from Come From Away. Thematically, this was the most creative concert I have ever been to. Our hosts, two 3rd years, were our flight attendants, and the music director was our pilot for the night. My friends and I were sat right in the front, and it was truly the first-class experience.

Soon, the month’s entertainment morphs into work in the following weeks, I realized just how little time we had left in second year and the amount of work still left to be done. As fun as the events have been, there is always a limit and I didn’t know where mine was to have taken on so many things at once from the fear of missing out. Next Tuesday, I will be sitting for my dance assessment in a mock audition setting with my cohort. We will be doing a number from Newsies which will only be revealed to us on the day itself so I’ve spent the week learning the possible songs we might be doing. The other assessments to come after that are my vocal recital, music literacy, acting and a digital portfolio; all of which I have been preparing for simultaneously as there is much to be done. On top of my coursework, I have to be the best follow spot I can be for the 3rd year showcase next week, on the 10th and the 11th of May.

I thought it would do me good to do as much as I can in second year but it was evidently the wrong decision with all that I have to manage right now. As I write this, I have sheet music and scripts scattered on my floor as I’m marking them in between paragraphs and sentences of this. I did have to find out the hard way of understanding what you need and there are some things that you think may be for the better that might just not be. Balancing socializing and work, deciding what might help my burnout can be hefty since I never know what might help until the choice it made, and it could very well be the wrong one.

I have had help from friends to get through the work together since we’re facing the same assessments, and body doubling has been a gift to finishing many things in one sitting. I feared distraction would be an issue but it was the fact that I have the balance of work and being around a friend to do it with. It’s a lot of fun having someone to bounce off, even if we’re doing very different work from each other and having someone there does give me the pressure of being studious for all of us to complete our work. It’s a bit of a domino effect if one starts to chat and it carries on but we take that responsibility very seriously to ensure we get our work done. We almost never do our work in our own homes, but even so, I make sure to never do mine in the comforts of my house.

It does not help that it often lacks sunlight on my end so going out to a friend’s lifts my spirits and motivation to do more.I learnt from my lecturers that sunlight is creativity’s best friend, which was very interesting to hear from a group of creatives who share that experience. Sunlight in Winchester can be a rare sight, depending on the season, and whenever we have it, I feel like the most powerful celestial being on this planet. I could do anything. But today, we bask in clouds on a dim afternoon with a cup of tea for the cold. Even under the circumstances, another way I get through the work is having a reward system for myself. It’s a little silly to say but it gets me motivated to do as much as I can before I enjoy myself in the evening around friends without having to worry about the incompletion of some work that I could have done more for. My sheet music is now out of the way after a brief blogging break, and that’s already one thing done for the day. And hopefully soon, this blog will be completed by today as well. It may sound fussy but everyone works differently. It may not be the same for you but it’s always worth a try exploring these little changes to your usual way of handling work as it may not always work out. I used to find being sat on my bedroom floor as the one consistent thing that helps my work endeavors but it isn’t always true when it becomes repetitive and some little thing changes the vibe completely. It's identifying all these little things for yourself that can make such a change to your work and your motivation to confront the ever-growing pile, and everyone will have their own way of dealing with it.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday, on a lovely Monday, and hopefully, I’ll have more work done by then too before Tuesday’s dance assessment. For now, I will be listening to Newsies on repeat with my music literacy worksheets on hand to multi-task my way through the next few tasks ahead of me to put my mind at ease. Sometimes work is all I need for a relaxing time with myself. Again, it may not be the same for everyone.

And so, this is my springtime burnout, but we press on and make the most of the three weeks I have left of my second year. What a terrifying thought.  

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