Student Blog: Academic 'Burn Out' is Real… Is the Pressure Cooker Cooking You?

I’m sure you’re all feeling a rejuvenated energy and passion as we head into spring semester. But let’s not forget how most of us left school in December.

It’s time to talk burn out. 

In late-November, one of my faculty sent out a program-wide email acknowledging the fatigue emerging among all students in MT.  The email encouraged us to keep focus until Thanksgiving break. And it caught no one by surprise. Because he was spot on.

 You could see it everywhere. In one class, the collective response to the everyday “How are you” became, “Ready for break”. In another, one could see a significant decrease in attendance as most people had caught the end of semester, “burn out” flu.  I imagine this resonates with a majority of college students across the country but here’s where the similarities end.  

For MTs, the most significant sign of this burn out is a drastic decline in the quality of performance. The truth is, when burn out hits, we begin compromising the quality of our art for the sake of completion. Anyone in a collegiate musical theatre program can easily memorize a song and perform it. However, it’s the time spent outside of class exploring a character and analyzing a scene that gets cut short.

The greater problem is that in our degree, these “assignments” are the core of our development as artists. As soon as we throw that away, we stunt our growth. And when we aren’t growing, we are not taking advantage of a skill or newfound understanding that may make our ‘package’ more refined and marketable in the industry. 

Whenever I get worked up about balancing the pressure, and exhaustion of my school curriculum in combination with auditions, work, shows, and life my dad says the following:

You need to start treating yourself like a professional athlete. Professional athletes train in intervals. They have rest and recovery periods to ensure that their peak performance period arrives on game day.

I know what you ‘non-theatre’ folk are thinking. How can I sit here and compare a professional athlete to a musical theatre student?

Listen closely.

Due to the performance aspect of our classes, we are often required to be ‘on’ eight hours a day (being in a show can add four to five hours on to that eight-hour day).

Despite having a healthy and positive class environment, the wave of competition that consumes our industry is innate. It’s not even about being better than others, it’s about presenting the best version of yourself. And that, creates an intense pressure throughout all of these activities. 

This pressure combined with the long hours of training forces us to have the same stamina of a professional athlete. This is because both jobs require the energy and focus of the entire body (both mentally and physically). At some point, you cannot just push through exhaustion because performance will suffer.

Truthfully, the never-ending hustle of a theatre student is completely reflective of the industry itself. In contrast, at least athletes are provided an off-season where training alters in intensity and cadence as they partake in maintenance and recovery mode.  

However, a life without breaks is simply not sustainable. Furthermore, science supports the idea that intervals as opposed to continuous workouts can increase endurance and aerobic power for athletes. And so, although our education is not structured in this way (and let’s be real, the world and our professors are not going to stop to benefit our need for a break), it’s important for us to figure out how to do this for ourselves so that we maintain our stamina.  

I could tell you what you already know. Practice self-care, journal, read, exercise, find time for your friends and loved ones, treat yourself, and fuel your body with quality meals that make you feel good. 

Ya, ya, ya. Those ideas are great…but I know you have heard them all before. 

Additionally, those things simply attempt to “cure” the burnout after it’s already hit. No amount of rest and relaxation will cure you when you’re still having to attend class each day and would rather be lying on a beach. Instead, I advise a proactive solution that works to create less burnout from the beginning.

Use college to train (duh) ALONGSIDE finding and working at one other great passion (aha!). Find some type of activity or job or volunteer work that brings you fulfillment, that is NOT musical theatre. Maybe it’s crocheting. Maybe it’s teaching. Maybe it’s coding. Maybe it’s teaching kids to dance.

You need to find SOMETHING else for three reasons. 

The first is that so much of this industry (and our educational process) is filled with rejection and disappointment. This fuels the burnout like nothing else can, without you even realizing it.  Having something else that makes you feel good about your worth and talent (talent in whatever capacity), can truly be a pick me up.

In school, when you are feeling unmotivated, sure a trip through the Sonic drive-through can ease the pain of that night (You might laugh, but you have no idea how therapeutic that drive-through has become for me and my friends). That fulfillment, however, lasts for about five minutes until your stomach starts aching from the grease. You need to find something to do that is more meaningful, that will provide real gratification.   

Secondly, finding a second passion should allow you to shift your focus for a sustained period of time when you just can’t look at another piece of sheet music. Of course, indulge in your occasional binge of Netflix on a Saturday. However, work to find something that will still keep your body and/or mind moving. Rest is not refraining from all action. It is about refraining from action that brings about pain or lack of motivation. Therefore, keeping the mind and/or body moving is key to allowing yourself the ability to process new information amidst exhaustion.

Thirdly, if you are able to find one other passion…perhaps it can also turn into one of your survival jobs when you enter this industry.  You will most likely always be a multi-hyphenate in this industry due to its innate instability (you finish one contract, you have to search for another yada..yada) For all of you who love to code, kudos (can someone say “cha-ching”?). The more things you love, the less empty you will feel when you aren’t working on a show.

My love for writing has always existed. On this platform, I was able to give it the opportunity to flourish. When I can’t bring myself to a practice room, I carry my energy to my computer and type away. So, as my first semester in this internship comes to a close and we begin semester two, to my readers, thank you for fueling my second passion and easing the burn out.

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