End-of-Semester Anxiety: Why College Students Feel Overwhelmed

Here are some of the causes behind end-of-semester anxiety and what you can do about them.

Academic Burnout

College has always been demanding. Past, present and future students have faced or will face the pressure cooker of keeping up with their studies. Worries about meeting major, scholarship or graduate school requirements are common. These days, however, students rarely are “off,” given academic work is always “on,” through online learning platforms, email, group chats, etc. It’s an age of constant evaluation and constant productivity.

For first-year students, particularly, the first semester of college offers unique challenges that create burnout, and by the end of the semester, saving the little energy left for break can feel like an uphill battle.

Here are some helpful strategies to overcome this academic burnout:

• Create a wellness routine—We often sacrifice the wellness activities that keep our foundation strong when we feel pressure from our academics. Create opportunities to engage in mindful moments, sleep, eat well, exercise, go outdoors and maintain or create social connections.
• Work with your professors—Many students feel overwhelmed with final exams coming. Before jumping in and focusing on everything you’ve learned this semester, take the time to understand your professors and work with them to understand where you should dedicate your time when it comes to the learning content. Remember, your faculty wants you to succeed!
• Check-in with yourself often—Why wait to struggle? Frequent self check-ins on your wellness can help you adjust as you navigate the end of the semester and make the workload manageable.
• Don’t forget your campus resources—With so many departments on campus, reflect on whether you need the expertise of our campus professionals, who are embedded throughout campus and who want to support you.

Procrastination Nation

Technology has revolutionized how students learn but also has provided new opportunities for distraction. Who hasn’t sat down to study or do some work and decided to take a quick look at their phone, only to find themselves, some 30 minutes later, still deep in a rabbit hole of dance challenge videos?

And it’s not just social media. Emails, texts, pings, group chats, etc., all make it hard to fully rest and concentrate. No one can be fully reachable, available and productive all the time. If your technological devices are making you feel that way, it’s easy to see why you feel overstimulated and under-rested most of the time.

With 168 hours in a week, it’s essential to be intentional about how you allocate your time and energy. Many students find the concept of “time-boxing” helpful. It’s a time management strategy that allows you to identify priorities and set specific periods to focus on them. Additionally, consider how your environment and boundaries that you set, such as limiting social media use or deciding whether to study alone or with others, can significantly influence your productivity and efficiency.

Complicated Relationships

An end-of-semester break can signal a return to a supportive, restful space for many students, while others may dread returning to a home environment that is tense—where conflict and unattainable expectations are the norm. Even connecting with old high school friends might be difficult if you have all grown apart in your values and beliefs.

We asked Geisler for his advice on navigating conflicts in relationships during times of transition. “Just as setting boundaries with academics is essential for success, establishing boundaries in relationships is equally important,” he said. “Reflect on what you are willing to tolerate, what you are not, and how you can communicate those boundaries respectfully.”

He noted that the transition to college is often an eye-opening experience. Students may return to relationships and see them through a new lens, and that’s expected. In fact, it’s often a sign of personal growth and change.

Outsized Worry

Greater openness about mental health in recent years has been a positive culture shift, but the downside is a tendency to think you should be constantly happy or working to “fix” yourself if you occasionally feel glum. When every bit of stress feels like a crisis, you can begin to feel powerless. Feeling anxious about an exam, being nervous about a project or expressing uncertainty about the future is normal.

Stress is often just a signal that your body needs a bit of extra energy or fuel to respond to a change or challenge. Seen as a tool to help you navigate a lengthy to-do list, stress may become less scary and more manageable. Constant stress, on the other hand, quickly depletes your reserves.

“Anxiety is part of the human experience,” says Geisler. “It’s totally expected, but we want to notice when it begins to impact our ability to function. That’s when we’d want to talk about how we manage that stress.”

Some helpful tools for managing anxiety include:

• Taking a few moments to slow down and be present
• Trying box breathing to calm your body and mind
• Reminding yourself that the feeling of anxiety will pass
• Talking with someone you trust about what’s causing your anxiety

Lack of Sleep

Running oneself into the ground has been a problem for as long as college students have put their faith into all-nighters. When running on empty becomes normalized, you’ve got trouble. Less sleep equals more anxiety, less focus and fewer coping skills. And then students get stuck in a classic loop—anxiety leads to sleeplessness, which leads to anxiety and even less sleep.

Some helpful tips for better sleep include:

• Avoid caffeine later in the day or before bedtime
• Unplug from screens at least an hour before bed to help your mind unwind
• Stick to a consistent bedtime and wake-up time to build a routine
• If you nap during the day, try to keep it short and earlier rather than later

Moving Forward

Simply knowing some stress is perfectly normal may make those end-of-semester struggles a lot less debilitating. However, for those looking for more resources to better understand and cope with these challenges, Sacred Heart University’s counseling center provides comprehensive short-term, goal-directed counseling in a confidential environment for full-time undergraduate students. The Counseling Center also offers mental wellness outreach services through s.w.e.e.t Peer Educators. Graduate students have access to free online services through UWill.

You can visit the counseling center website page to learn more about its resources or call 203-371-7855 for more information.

Want to hear more from SHU? Subscribe to our newsletters to get the latest updates delivered right to your inbox.