Information overload: Penn State students experience COVID-19 burnout

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It is a typical Wednesday afternoon at the Paterno Library at Penn State’s Main Campus.

The Starbucks barista is calling out students’ orders. A name is called — “Cold brew for Page!” shouts one employee. Another employee: “For Sam, a Chai latte!”

A sea of maskless students gather around the large countertop, waiting for their names to be called. Chatter can be heard all around, filling the atmosphere like the buzz of cicadas. One student suddenly coughs loudly, but no one seems to care in the slightest.

This scene is from a different time — a time where the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t exist. It is jarring considering the strict social distancing measures of just two years prior.

This begs the question: where has this nonchalance come from?

Students have expressed that familiarity with the situation allowed them to be in a different mindset compared to at the start of the pandemic.

“I guess in the beginning, it was less familiar,” Sara Russo (senior-computer science) said. “And now it is just kind of like how things are. But it’s still like scary because you hear about it getting big again in other parts of the world.”

Another student sharing Russo’s sentiment is Karlie Pletcher (sophomore-criminology), who believes that COVID-19 has become a part of life.

“Now I feel like it’s just kind of daily life, so don’t really think much of it now because it feels like the flu,” Pletcher said.

Some students said they were happy that life is seemingly going back to normal and expressed optimism regarding the current situation.

Yajur Tomar (junior-computer science) said he is feeling better now compared to two years ago.

“It’s kind of seeming to finally die down,” Tomar said. “Mask restrictions are starting to slow a bit. So, I think I’m feeling a lot better than two years ago for sure.”

Divyesh Johri (junior-computer science/statistics) said that Penn State’s most recent mask policies and social distancing measures have made him feel more at ease.

“I feel better about COVID-19 now. Especially because cases have been going down,” Johri said. “I can actually go to places without, you know, too much worry about how spaced away I am.”

Vaccinations are another important facet in fighting COVID-19 and keeping the community safe, according to Penn State students.

“I have had COVID-19 when it first came out, I got really sick for a few days, and I was over it,” Matthew Stover (sophomore-kinesiology) said. “But after the vaccinations and the boosters I feel like we’re fairly safe.”

Roxie Colston (senior-Japanese) also got vaccinated and said that vaccinations are effective.

“I live in Florida, so it was like I got stuck and my study abroad got cancelled,” she said. “I was angry, and I just kind of did what I had to do: I wore my mask, I got my shots. But I’m more just tired.”

New day, new variant

On March 13, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla explained on CBS’ “Face the Nation” how a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will be pertinent in helping to maintain reasonable levels of mild infection and hospitalization.

The fourth doses have been authorized for older individuals and some immunocompromised groups. Bourla also said that COVID-19 boosters could become a common procedure, much like the flu shot.

In addition to the latest news regarding the vaccine’s fourth dose, we are now faced with yet another variant of COVID-19: the deltacron variant.

While some students felt reassured at the prospect of a fourth vaccine and its protections, others questioned the idea of a fourth shot, and whether it would be necessary.

“If you look at the flu, there’s a new variant every year. We were supposed to get a new shot every year. No one does,” Stover said. “I mean, I would take it. But I don’t think the whole American population is going to get behind that.”

Amid the rapidly changing COVID-19 guidelines, some students are feeling burnt out by the situation in general.

“[I am] definitely more fatigued, more tired,” Andrew Vanden Heuvel (junior-biology) said. “Just in general and with classes; I don’t want to do as much work, I don’t have the motivation I used to.”

Sharing Vanden Heuvel’s feelings of fatigue, Johri also feels burnt out by the pandemic.

“It’s been a long time now — like two, three years,” said Johri. “Pretty annoyed by, you know, all the opportunities that I’ve missed because of it. In general, I am pretty burnt out.”

Jessica Raskauskas (senior-criminology/women’s studies) said that her burnout had manifested in a unique way: in maxing out her abilities as a student — and as a person that participates in extracurriculars, something that was made difficult due to COVID-19 protocols.

“Because everything was online for a year and a half, in my head, I could just get involved with everything,” she said. “I’ve always been super involved as a person, but once everything was moved online, and like, I could be in a meeting until six and then start a rehearsal at six just by clicking over to a Zoom link. I definitely stretched myself way thin.”

An academic advisor’s perspective

Joanna Maatta is currently an academic advisor for students in the nutritional sciences department. However, her previous position gives particularly interesting insight into COVID-19 burnout.

“Previously, I was an academic advisor in Eberly College of Science, so still at Penn State, and working with undergraduate students in the science major and pre-medicine major,” Maatta said.

Maatta explained how her students were very “healthcare focused” and how they were knowledgeable in subjects like biology, epidemiology and microbiology.

“So, these are students who have all of this, you know, classroom learning and book learning,” Maatta said. “And then it became a lived experience.”

These students could tell you “chapter and verse, what that means and why it’s scary,” Maatta said.

Maatta also said that her students felt empowered that they could explain the situation to those around them.

“But they took everything very, very seriously,” Maatta said. “And I think that’s because they understood the risks because of what they had learned in their Penn State classrooms.”

Regardless of the scary situation the world had found itself in, Maatta said her students felt good about the future’s prospects. “Most recently they’ve been very hopeful for the future. I also think sometimes you can know too much, right? Like sometimes ignorance is bliss?” she said.

“Maybe having taken those classes makes you more cautious. But it could also stress you out a little bit more than those of us who don’t quite understand exactly what’s going on.”