Word on the Street: Is there a mid-year slump?

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“I think it’s a perceived burnout because at the same time the classes actually do get harder in the second semester, and I think that’s really the reason for the burnout,” said junior Theo Lemkin. Lemkin believes the mid-year burnout is more prominent when students take harder classes, making it harder to ignore both in one’s personal life and the lives of others’. Lemkin believes that the slump ends toward the final part of the third quarter.

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Junior Nur Makdisi has noticed this mid-year slump in herself and her peers, but also in her teachers. “One teacher just went missing for a week, and wrote on his board that he was mentally exhausted and needed a break,” Makdisi said when thinking back to the previous year. Her teacher came back feeling a lot more energized to teach. Makdisi shares these sentiments with her teacher over a lack of motivation and willingness to do work around this time of year.

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“Once I get back from the break I’m all rested and ready to get back at it,” said sophomore Luka Thorniley, who doesn’t feel like this burnout is affecting him as much as it is his peers. Thorniley said, “I can see how some people would have a break and then when they get back to school it’s too much, and they’re overwhelmed.”

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For sophomore Divya Sachdeva, the mid-year slump is very present post winter break when students go back to school. “It makes students feel more stressed out, it makes them feel like they can’t do anything,” Sachdeva said in reference to this slump. Sachdeva, who takes classes in local community colleges Berkeley City College and Laney College, finds it’s hard to focus on any work other than their college classes.

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“It’s subjective,” said freshman Theodore Lam. “Some people will experience it, and definitely be burnt out.” Although they acknowledged that many students experience this burnout, he doesn’t believe he does, mostly due to the fact that they’re new to high school and haven’t had the experience with it that their older peers may have. Looking forward, Lam is excited for this new semester and can’t wait to start running track.

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Junior Diego Tandberg said that he found himself struggling with this second semester burnout last year more than he is now. “I had a lot of exams and I was just tired of school,” he said. The burnout Tandberg experienced wasn’t just mid-year, it lasted the rest of the year until school got out. This year, Tandberg feels he’s overcome the struggle he dealt with in previous years and can thrive more at this time.