“Throughout my high school career, I think I have focused so much on keeping up my good grades, good extracurriculars, and being an overall perfect student, but I realize now that I need to be able to balance that out with other things going on in my life,” junior Vedika Vyas said.

By the time most of her classmates are still waking up, Vyas has already gotten ready for the day, eaten breakfast and studied for her classes. Her day is packed with hours of homework, different clubs and other activities. While this schedule sounds exhausting, Vyas says it’s not too bad.

“I want to push myself academically,” Vyas said.

For academically motivated students like Vyas, it can be difficult to manage the large array of tasks that come with high school. As competition rises, especially at CHS, which is already a highly academically competitive school, more and more students are chasing the high grades and impressive resumes. Despite this, many students are realizing that working hard is not the only thing to worry about, as burnout is becoming more and more prevalent among high schoolers.

Senior Aishwarya Ram, who juggles college applications, AP classes and a multitude of clubs after school, says the burnout phenomenon is real.

“With everything going on, it’s really difficult to be motivated to do my work, even though I know I have to,” Ram said. “All the work is overwhelming and knowing I have to do all of it just makes me want to do nothing at all.”

Ram and Vyas both said that an important part of their routine is allotting time for breaks.

“Having gaps between work is very refreshing, and helps take the fatigue away,” Ram said. “When I work nonstop, I feel a lot more productive, but I end up actually getting a lot less work done.”

The American Psychological Association backed this claim up, reporting that breaks improve focus and overall performance.

Experts say that mindset shift — from perfection to growth — can help students sustain motivation long-term.

Perhaps the least exercised part of balance, Vyas said, is sleep.

“I used to stay up until 2 a.m. before tests, and I still do sometimes,” she said. “But when I do that, I’m too tired to even remember the material that I went over. Now I try to get more hours of sleep.”

Despite the pressure due to circumstances, these students say their drive comes from more than just resumes and admissions.

“When I’m at school, I am constantly comparing myself to students around me, but also I compare myself to what I want in my future,” Ram said. “Putting in all this effort shows that I can achieve my goals in the future.”

Vyas said she agrees with this statement.

She said, “As much as I put weight on grades, at the end of the day, they don’t matter that much.”