Let’s talk about burnout
Last week marked a year since our education moved online. The last 12 months have been chaotic, trying, and seemingly unending.
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Last week marked a year since our education moved online. The last 12 months have been chaotic, trying, and seemingly unending.
College students, particularly those at universities like Princeton, are typically transient residents. Establishing roots in a community takes time and effort, both of which seem to be barriers in the town of Princeton according to popular perception. Locals often quip that students are rarely, if ever, seen more than a block or two north of Nassau Street.
When my parents came to visit me over spring break, my father told me just how lucky I am to be attending Princeton. Not only am I lucky to call myself a student at an Ivy League, he said, but I am lucky to be going here for a price more manageable than almost any other university would have offered me nationally.
Despite our individual responsibilities, some issues are too big to be resolved individually.
Introducing “Thus Spoke the Undergrads”: The Daily Princetonian's new ethics column:
After a successful fall semester living in New York, I couldn’t wait to get back to Arkansas to see my family. My younger brother had just completed his first semester of college, and my mother had had great success in expanding her cleaning business. All very good things. However, I didn’t expect to be sent into a whirlwind of uncertainty and stress when, the day after I came home, my mother contracted COVID-19.
I would like to issue a content warning as this column addresses statistics concerning domestic violence, physical and sexual assault, and partner abuse. For resources regarding reporting and intervention, please visit https://www.thehotline.org/.
“The art of losing isn’t hard to master,” writes the poet Elizabeth Bishop, “I lost two cities … two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.”
Amidst the frenzied midterm season, we have all borne witness to an arguably even more chaotic affair: the catastrophic fallout of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex. Many of us have been tracking live updates of the story from The New York Times, but Meghan’s story is not a new one. We have heard this before: The Royal Family inflicting havoc upon “outsiders” who dare to challenge its generational traditions and uncompromising “values.” For Princess Diana, Prince Charles’ first wife and Prince Harry’s mother, her presence challenged a patriarchy hellbent on keeping women seen but never heard. For Meghan, her presence posed a threat to the white supremacy and colonialism inherent to the Crown.
As we pass the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 in the United States, I’ve realized that I’m part of the last class in a long time whose college applications will be free of the influence of COVID-19. While no future student will be able to brush aside the impacts of this torturous year, strict school closures have hurt the students who love school the most — students who would be great fits here at Princeton in future years. We must be sure not to leave them behind.
“I’d be very happy if everybody ate four pounds of sugar a year. They eat a hundred pounds!” exclaimed Doctor John Yudkin around the mid-20th century. But for an average American in the 21st century, that amount has spiked to a staggering 152 pounds per year. In the 2019-20 season alone, 171.5 million metric tons of sugar were consumed worldwide — that’s 30 times as heavy as The Great Pyramid of Giza.
As an American, many of my Princeton colleagues and I have been inundated with the notion that democracy is synonymous with freedom. Democracy is, however, much more murky and multifaceted than this, as exhibited by the recent military coup in Myanmar.
Before we were faced with the pandemic, many of us could not imagine that our responsibilities could become any more stressful. Ever since classes went online, I’ve felt that my sole goal has been to survive the classes I’m taking. In addition to being sleep-deprived and isolated, I’ve struggled to withstand the pressure of an already-hectic Princeton in the midst of the pandemic. As I longed for everything from easy access to peers to review material with to possessing a physical space as an outlet for my curiosity, I realized that I’d forgotten what it feels like to actually enjoy learning — and I’m guessing I’m not the only one.
Last week, the United States crossed a tragic and entirely preventable milestone: 500,000 COVID-19 deaths. I want to challenge everyone — and especially my fellow classmates and faculty at the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) — to be more precise with our language when we talk about this.
A few weeks ago, when much of the Central United States experienced record-low temperatures, Texas became the center of attention when half-a-million residents lost power. If this was not a big enough wake-up call, 30 deaths have since been recorded, including those caused by fire or carbon monoxide poisoning as residents struggled to keep warm in their homes.
Last semester, Remy Reya ’21 wrote about the loss of peripheral community in a fully virtual environment. Returning to campus, I expected a revival of meaningful interactions beyond our inner circles. However, while there have been more chance encounters and catch-ups with friends we haven’t seen for a year, something is missing; campus still feels lonely.
Princeton has topped the U.S. News & World Report list of Best National Universities in each of the last 10 years. Perhaps we’ve gotten too used to the accolade, but it’s time to stop seeing the Best Universities List as an affirmation at all.
To me, Disney Plus’s “Celebrate Black Stories” watchlist seemed haphazardly assembled. There were some films directed by and starring Black people that centered on their lived experiences and futures, like Beyoncé’s “Black is King” and “Black Panther.” However, I did not consider most films as particularly representative.
It’s laudable many universities are taking the initiative to expand the diversity of applicants through removing the SAT and ACT standardized testing requirements — something Princeton has done as well, though temporarily. It’s true that these exams are stressful, time-consuming, and ludicrously expensive. Therefore, they are predatory to minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status.
National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA) Week, which is meant to educate the public and end the stigma around these illnesses, came to a close this Sunday. As the week approached, I was pleased to see an email from my Director of Student Life (DSL) arrive in my inbox about Counseling and Psychological Services’ (CPS) outreach surrounding this topic. Despite the prevalence of eating disorders among teenagers and young adults, my high school never acknowledged NEDA week, so I was particularly grateful for Princeton taking this initiative.