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Students Burning Out Get a Break Students Burning Out Get a Break

SU students will have a four day weekend to help combat student burnout.

By Richard Maj

Richard Maj: It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the SU Student Association is raising awareness, but many students are looking forward to something else.

Ryan Myers: It’ll be nice to get away, cause we actually have time to travel.

Richard Maj: But many don’t know WHY they’re getting it.

Gus Madero: Because it’s fall and we deserve to have a break?

RM: That thought of “deserving a break” and other student input is what Student Association Executive Vice President Yasmin Nayrouz says encouraged her to talk to administrators about having a fall break.

Yasmin Nayrouz: Hearing that there was a bill and that there’s students pushing for this, I think, motivated the academic affairs office to further pursue implementing a fall break.

RM: From April to August 2023, the unemployment rate has steadily increased from 2.6 to 3.5. Psychologist and LeMoyne professor Dr. Max Malikow says he can see how some find not working at all better than their current jobs.

Dr. Max Malikow: That would seem to me to be a recipe for depression. How can you spend so much time at something that from which you draw no enthusiasm.

RM: Malikow also says that burnout is the loss of enthusiasm, energy, and meaning for someone’s activity. Now, I’m standing in front of the Student Association Office where Yasmin Nayrouz had most of those conversations with administrators about the potential of a fall break. She says that burnout in students makes this fall break so much more important.

YN: College can be very stressful, we need, we need breaks, so we don’t burn out and to preserve our mental health, physical health even, give time for rest, is really important.

RM: Richard Maj, NCC News.

Syracuse, N.Y.  (NCC News) — Mental Health Awareness Week will end with a four day weekend for Syracuse University students. This is the first time in SU history that the university introduced a fall break, according to Yasmin Nayrouz, the Executive Vice President of the Student Association. This weekend will last for four days with students having Monday, Oct. 9th, and Tuesday, Oct. 10th off to help combat student burnout.

Nayrouz spearheaded conversations with administrators to consider what is now “Fall Break.” She was encouraged by complaints made to her by friends, other Student Association members, and generally, random students coming up to her. She said seeing students push for this addition helped convince administrators of the importance of mental health days.

The unemployment rate in Syracuse has increased from 2.6% in April 2023 to 3.5% in August 2023, according to statistics from the US Department of Labor. The idea that college students are already “burning out” before graduating and entering the workforce is concerning to some. Dr. Max Malikow, psychologist and LeMoyne professor, said anyone who is “crawling to the finish line” of their undergraduate degree concerns him.

“The definition of burnout is it’s a loss of enthusiasm and energy and meaning for a person’s work or activity,” Malikow said. “That would seem to me to be a recipe for depression. How can you spend so much time at something that from which you draw no enthusiasm.”

Students are grateful for Nayrouz’s efforts and excited for their four-day weekend, but many don’t know why it’s happening in the first place. Some students think it’s because they deserve a break, some think it’s to alleviate the imbalanced fall semester schedule, and some just have no idea altogether. It all comes back to mental health. This current generation cares more about mental health than previous generations, according to Nayrouz.

“I think employers need to prioritize mental health much more because it matters to our generation and also because it improves productivity,” Nayrouz said. “Instead of harsh and strict regulations on how you can get PTO, like really insanely low maternity leave, all of these policies that do not promote people taking a break.”

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