How to Cope with Summer Burn Out
- Danny Nguyen
- Jul 14, 2016
- 4 min read
Circle K International is something else. Unlike regular people, Circle K has three crucial time periods: Fall, Spring, and Summer. Fall is a time for the new flow of young bloods into the scene and introducing them to our livelihood of our three tenets. Spring is a time where achievements of the current year are praised at District Convention and where the next generation of leaders step in. As for summer, it’s the long stretch where most clubs are only a handful in comparison to the sheer strength and spirit during fall and spring. All these time periods have something in common: times where the ship must sail against the storm.
You are the ship, and the storm is the obstacles present with each time period and the endless possibilities that can ultimately wear you down. I’ve seen it happened to the best of us, to my closest friends, my mentor, and myself. Being burnt out is bound to happen to everyone, it’s the matter of when it will come and knock you down. And when the moment does come to you, the only person that can convince you out of it is yourself.
There are so many factors that can burn you out and each burn-out is unique to each individual. Sometimes you might feel like you’re overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being a board member. Sometimes you might feel like you’ve done a lot for this club without being realized for your worth. Sometimes you might feel like a personal dilemma is hindering your performance. Sometimes you might feel like you’re biting more than you can chew with life, school, work, and CKI. Sometimes you might feel emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted by everything. Sometimes you might feel like quitting the organization you once loved. The list goes on, but the two common things I can pick out of these scenarios are stress and energy.
Not gonna lie, Circle K can be very demanding and stressful at times when it’s supposed to be a fun organization to be around. These demands and stressors will suck the energy out of you, leaving you unmotivated and tired. As a result, your grace falls from the heavens.
Being burnt out is the absolutely one of the worst feelings out there, but I can ensure you that there is always a way to get you back in the game. Remember why we look forward to summer? School’s basically out of the picture (unless summer courses) until the fall. You are able to work at your job without losing sleep or stressing out about school. You get more time in the day as well as sleep. Lastly, your club’s activities will be slower than usual. Bringing back to my metaphors in the first paragraph, it’s the perfect time for you to de-stress and to find yourself before everything goes back to normal. I am here to say that time really helps with the process of getting you back together and summer’s the opportunity for you.
Everyone deals with burn outs differently. There is no defined path to recovering yourself. There are endless roads that you may take, it just depends on you and your imagination. What works best for me is to take a summer break from work, school, and CKI. In my spare time, I would do things that I enjoy such as Netflix, weekly hikes, graphic novels, movies, Gundams, physical activities, PS4, Nintendo 3DS, solo adventures, Seaside Bakery, and food runs. By doing what “Danny” would do, the stress goes down and I regain my energy. Major Key: it’s all about reigniting the fire within yourself. So get out there and do the things that will help you find yourself again.
I was catching up with a good friend recently. As we were updating each other, it turns out that she burned out a few months ago. I asked her how did she deal with it and I got the best answer I could ask for. It went somewhere along the lines of “taking a step back [from board] and getting back into the roots of it all as a general member because I don’t want to hate this club in the end”. It’s true though. There’s a place and time for everyone to pick and choose his or her battles. You want to recall why you love this club in the first place or why you stepped up to serve your members. Sometimes we lost sight of that when we’re at the bottom. If it’s something you have to do whether it’ll be taking a break from board or the club, just do it. In the end, it’s all about you. I’m here to let you know that you’ll be okay as long as you’re enjoying summer by finding yourself. I’m here to let you know that after blackest night comes brightest day.
Danny Nguyen is a 3rd year at California State University, Fullerton and is majoring in Health Science. He is also serving as the 2016 - 2017 CSUF CKI Member Development & Education Chair.
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