Via Amelie Zurwalski

Claire Mizuki Rodham

Science and Environment Editor

With the staggering workload and difficult concepts, science programs can feel like a never ending hamster wheel of increasingly complicated homework problems. In these programs, it is not uncommon for students to dedicate all of their free time and sacrifice their sleeping schedules, only to fail and have to retake the classes that they had worked so hard at. Yet oftentimes, this is not the fault of the students for not being organized enough or overworking themselves; it is simply a result of having to take large amounts of difficult classes in a short semester with a heavy workload.

Are These Programs Really The Root Cause?

While it’s easy to argue that it’s not necessary for students to sacrifice all of their time studying, and that it is up to them to maintain their work-life balance, this is a lot easier said than done. For regular students who aren’t remarkably gifted and don’t have a tremendous amount of prior knowledge, an intensive studying regimen is often required in order to maintain a sufficient R-score, particularly for students who aim to apply for competitive university programs.

In an interview with a Health Science student with plans to apply for Pre-Med, they revealed that their studying schedule consists of leaving their house for the library at 6 am everyday and returning home at 10 pm. Despite this grueling schedule, the student states that “somehow it’s still not enough. I don’t necessarily consider myself as burnt out, not because I’m not tired all the time, but because I know that it can get much, much worse.”

What Counts As Burnout?

As described by Psychology Today, “burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” The cause of this burnout stems from the culture in scientific spheres that promotes the idea that getting a higher education “should be hard”. This outlook can lead to students developing mental health-related disorders or result in them taking medication to enhance performance or manage stress, according to The National Library Of Medicine. 

Are Competition And Perfectionism Other Factors At Play?

Despite there existing obvious expectation for students to sacrifice many hours to dedicate them to studying the complex topics within science, many students can unfortunately become partially responsible for their own burnout. Since science programs can be difficult to get into, they attract many high achieving students who can wind up working harder than their programs require or who push themselves to the limits to remain at the same level as their highly intelligent peers. In an interview with a Pure and Applied Science Student, she reflects on the difficulties of constantly being surrounded by increasingly smart and hardworking students, expressing that

“being in an environment full of competitive students is almost degrading when you get lower grades than them.”

She goes on to mention that she believes science attracts a lot of overachieving students because

“it is a toxic way to prove that you’re capable and what better way is there to do that by picking a  path that is known to be challenging.”

When the student in Health Science was asked about feelings of perfectionism and lack of motivation, she reflected that she felt the need to study really hard all the time in order to meet her own standards and “there’s the feeling that if you don’t meet these standards, then there’s no point, which makes motivation really difficult.”

Is Overwork Normalized?

While many science students report mental, physical, and social impacts of these programs, being an “academic weapon” by dedicating increasing time and effort to these programs continues to be glorified. Many students can end up hitting a “brick wall” as eventually the results of sacrificing sleep or other spheres of their life can catch up with them, leading to possible mental health disorders. Despite this, from an outsider’s perspective, the mental health of science students does not seem to be considered as a severe issue as to them it seems perfectly understandable to be stressed in a stressful environment. The implications of this expectation on the mental and overall health of students isn’t sufficiently considered.

Via Claire Zhang

Should Science Programs Do Better?

In the age of artificial intelligence and an everchanging society, the sphere of science is no stranger to adaptability. While science programs are not the only programs that may end up causing their students to become overworked, it has a notably unforgiving study culture that promises to worsen as students leave for university and go onto higher education. As stated best by the same Health Science Student, “I feel like this needs to be talked about as a real issue and not just something that we have to put up with.”