Stay in School: A Guide to Surviving Semester Burnout!

For the last three semesters, my schedule has been plagued by a 6–9 p.m. lecture on Tuesday nights—the curse of third-year English classes. After a four-hour break spent warming up with a cup of Earl Grey and endless assigned readings, I am simply too cozy to brave the slushy schlepp back to campus. Once I get to class, somehow simultaneously sweaty and freezing, my brain just shuts down; the most animated lecturer in the world and five shots of espresso couldn’t keep me from drifting off during the first half of class. Even worse, by the end of the lecture I am somehow wide awake and incapable of falling asleep (last semester, I had a 9 a.m. the next day, which was a deadly combination that I’m not ready to unpack here). Worst of all, I’m forced to eat dinner too early or too late, and either way, I’m starving the entire class. My “focused face”, which already reads as RBF, starts to lean more like Norman Bates, and I am pretty sure one of my professors last term was genuinely scared of me. To sum it up, these classes are not my forte. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than happy to take the trade-off that is my lax humanities degree, but by hour three of my weekly hell, my gratitude starts to ebb. Over the past year, I’ve had to come up with strategies to stave off my monstrous, hangry alter ego. If you have a late-night lecture and still need to get those participation points, here are my five tips to keep you in class with a smile on your face. 

1. Snacks in Class

In smaller seminars, making any amount of noise can feel monumentally mortifying. Any time I get stuck with a squeaky chair, it feels like a humiliation ritual of epic proportions—I might as well be tarred and feathered in the town square. Last semester, my metal water bottle fell down an entire flight of stairs, and I turned so red I think I popped a blood vessel. All this to say, I understand your hesitation. I too used to think that taking out my trough of snacks during class would be disruptive or cause my prof to start oinking at me. But last year, a brave diva changed my perspective: in the middle of a tense, sombre lecture about women’s suffrage, she took a three-course meal out of her tote bag. A couple of heads turned, but then no one cared. It was honestly powerful. The suffragettes fought for their right to go to school and chow down on some potato chips. Since then, I have brought food to class and shamelessly shovelled high-sodium sustenance into my mouth all lecture long. Now, my profs can make eye contact without flinching at the unintentional death glare that I’m throwing their way. In short, bring snacks to class because literally no one cares; your cheery demeanour will pull focus from the chewing sounds.  

2. Naps!!!! 

As a card-carrying night owl, I’ve always wondered why I start to drift off in early evening classes. For some reason, I’m sleepier at 6 p.m. than I am stumbling home from Caf at 3 a.m. with a broken heel and a burrito in my purse. (This is just one of life’s mysteries that I am too lazy to Google an answer to.) My mom gets credit for this next tip because it’s a technique she perfected during her undergrad: the art of the 30-minute nap. The timing is key, because you don’t want to sleep for too long and risk feeling sluggish—you just need a little pick-me-up! If you have time in the middle of the afternoon, have a little cat nap (if you’re not caffeine averse, I’d drink a latte after for peak perkiness). When you wake up, chug some cold water and maybe listen to some upbeat music on your walk to class. This is a sure-fire way to combat fatigue, and if you don’t believe me, give it a try!

3. Getting Dolled Up! 

This might seem like the last thing you want to do at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday, but never underestimate the power of getting ready to a movie-montage-level song (I’m talking Madonna, baby). When it’s cold and dark outside, the odds you will feel motivated to leave the house are sub-zero (just like the weather!). This is why I have started Pavlov-ing myself into thinking I’m going to the club—I might have been huddling for warmth by my space heater 20 minutes earlier, but the second I hear that eye shadow palette click open, I’m energized and craving a Vodka Cran. This step doesn’t necessitate makeup if that’s not a part of your routine. Just go about your usual pre-night-out ritual and enter a beautiful meditative flow state. Something about the process of getting ready always puts me into a better headspace to leave the house, even if I’m just washing my face or changing outfits—sometimes a different coloured sweater can make or break your whole day. By the time you’ve glammed up with a fervor usually reserved for nights spent hauling ass to a mid-January rave, you’ll be ready to brave the elements and dazzle your class with a poignant reading response and a mean mug.  

4. Complain! 

Listen, nobody likes a complainer, but sometimes it’s okay to get things off your chest. For this step, it’s important to understand context clues and pay attention to time and place—please don’t hold your barista hostage with a 10-minute rant. However, my roommates and I like to allow each other about 15 minutes of uninterrupted complaining time before or after any class of our choosing throughout the day. If someone in your lecture hogged the discussion time or made a questionable political comment, you are free to talk shit unencumbered by a fear of being perceived as a Negative Nancy. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that when trying to make small talk, people often resort to complaining about whatever low-hanging fruit seems easy to knock. I am totally guilty of opening a conversation with a classmate with something embarrassing like, “that assignment sucked, right?” This is why it’s good to get the cynicism out of your system in private so that you can be a bundle of joy and positivity in public. In cases where your late-night class might not be the highlight of your week, this will make it easier to approach your lecture with an open mind, if not genuine excitement. After adequately badmouthing last week’s monotone snooze fest, you will hopefully be able to leave those memories behind and give your professor the chance to redeem themselves.

5. Pick a week to skip! 

Disclaimer: I can’t officially condone skipping class, but if you must, it’s better to skip responsibly! Usually, I can motivate myself to attend class due to my deep need for academic validation, or by reminding myself how much I’m paying in tuition, but sometimes that just isn’t enough. If your class’s syllabus allows for 1-2 missed days (like mine, God bless humanities majors!!), then space them out accordingly. For example, I have already planned a Friday after my midterms to skip my tutorials and hang out with my girlfriend; it feels spontaneous and romantic, and yet I won’t have to send my TA a guilty email faking an illness. I plan to spend the afternoon wearing red lipstick and wandering the city aimlessly to evoke French New Wave ennui, without letting the aesthetic interfere with my GPA! I know this guide was meant to help motivate you to attend class, but if you’re anything like me, this will help mitigate burnout. It’s like rewarding yourself with a sweet treat after eating a nutritious meal… Happy skipping!