An Overly Normalized Cycle

Written by kayla hoang

If you’re a CNS student, you’ve probably skipped a lecture or two to cram for an exam in another class– it’s practically a canon event. When deadlines and tests seem to come up out of nowhere, it’s easy to prioritize whatever feels most urgent at the moment. But that temporary relief usually backfires whenever you’re all of a sudden trapped in a constant cycle of playing catch-up. You find yourself sacrificing one class for another, scrambling to stay afloat, and wondering why it never seems to end. It’s essentially the academic version of putting out fires instead of preventing them.

We all start the semester with the same optimism: this will be the semester we finally stay on top of everything. But that confidence often turns into overcommitment, and we take on too heavy a workload, convinced we can handle it all. Then the first round of deadlines hits, and that familiar “I’m screwed” thought creeps in. What most of us don’t realize is that this initial feeling of doom and despair marks the beginning of a cycle of stress, exhaustion, and compensation that only becomes harder to break over time. As our responsibilities pile up, our motivation starts to crumble. Instead of being excited to learn, we essentially shift into a state of survival mode.

Senior biology major Isa Murphy puts it best: “The direness of the situation makes me less engaged in my classes, even though I picked them to begin with because I thought they were interesting.” This detachment contributes to burnout, trapping us in the same pattern week after week. By this point, the desire to succeed in our classes has been replaced by an entirely different driver– fear. Isa attests to this, saying: “I know I’m screwed whenever I can only get anything done once I’m in a state of fight-or-flight.”

Another major consequence of this cycle is sacrificing personal well-being for the sake of academics. For many CNS students, it feels almost natural to put school above everything else. But that mindset often leaves us disconnected from the communities and activities that make college meaningful. Late nights, skipped meals, and a lack of self-care have become so normalized that we barely consider how much they could be harming our livelihood. Over time, these unhealthy habits reinforce the very burnout we’re trying to avoid. Junior nutrition major Bryan Han describes the double-edged nature of academic motivation: “When I do bad on a test, it makes me want to work harder, but when I do good on a test, it makes me think that everything I put myself through was worth it.” The more time and energy we pour into school, the less we have left for the things that fulfill us beyond our education, such as our organizations, hobbies, and relationships. This imbalance can gradually lead to a loss of identity, since the things we do outside of classes are often such an important part of who we are. Bryan describes this experience, saying: “It sucks feeling guilty for not contributing to my orgs as much as I’d like to, but school takes so much out of me that I just don’t have anything left to give sometimes.”

So you might be thinking, “I relate... but what am I supposed to do with this information?” There are a few things you can try to break free from this cycle and keep it from invading future semesters. For starters, build consistency instead of cramming. It sounds simple, but treating school as ongoing maintenance rather than damage control can stop the build-up that leads to last-minute panic. Deadlines shouldn’t dictate your schedule, so set your own pace before they can. Second of all, prioritize your energy just as much as your time. Productivity is less about the amount of hours you put in, and more about how effectively you use them. Recognize your peak focus times and give yourself permission to rest, because pushing through exhaustion only fuels the cycle you’re trying to escape. Finally, reconnect with the things and people that ground you, because ultimately, you are so much more than your GPA (i.e., go touch some grass). Staying connected to these parts of your life can help reignite your motivation to actually enjoy learning.

At the end of the day, every CNS student has experienced this cycle in one form or another. But breaking it starts with small shifts in mindset, not drastic bouts of overcompensation. School will always be demanding, but it doesn’t have to consume us. Ultimately, true success isn’t found by constantly pushing ourselves to our limits. The fulfillment we seek comes from establishing sustainable growth while staying true to who we are along the way.