tips for not burning out???

First of all, omg!! You have so much going on, and I thought I had it hard 😭. I think colleges are surely going to love what you're doing, but tackling burnout is going to be a big thing. First of all, don't push yourself too hard! I know it seems like the most basic advice, but it seems as if you're doing so many things, and it's okay if you can't keep up with all of them. If you need to, drop something that seems too hard for you. I support you with whatever you do :) Second, I honestly think you should plan something to do every week or every month. My friends and I have planned an activity each month after junior year ends, like picnic in June, a trampoline park in July, and so on. Even though it seems like something insignificant, just the thought of it makes me happy. Make sure to actually want to do that though!! Just keeping ideas of hangouts in your head isn't going to help at all. However, if you're not able to hang out every month, I think you should do a little activity each week. Take out a few hours each week to do some kind of activity, like taking a walk around your community (Without your phone for maximum free-ness), going to a pet adoption center to literally just look at the pets (maybe adopt one too 😼), or go out with your family and take a break from everything. Yeah, these activities may seem insignificant but immersing yourself in something other than work is so important for your brain and body 🙏🏼.

Also, don't worry too much about college applications!! You have so much extracurricular work and I honestly think that's very inspiring ⭐. As a junior, I wish you good luck with everything, and I hope we both have the best summer and senior year!! 🍀

As a student who does FIRST Tech Challenge, the burnout is REAL. I'm putting in over 10 hours/week on ONE activity and my brain says "do more its fun to be socially unavailable🥹" People on my team have built their entire class schedules around robotics, and it's miraculous that they still have lives outside that lol. I tried to push myself to that point, but I learned a real lesson: know your limits. I had also started marching band for the first time on a new instrument last fall. The social anxiety of being the oldest newbie in a group, emotional conflicts with friends, along with trying not to let my robotics team down, ate me alive. (I ended up getting crazy sick the week before hoco and fainted at one of the field rehearsals) Being nicer to yourself will make your life so much better, you don't need to be adding more stress to yourself, your stacked schedule does it for you! For college apps, the seniors on my team tell us to do our part of our applications over the summer, so all you have to do is press a button in the fall. So much will be happening in September, and you'll get to have some peace of mind :)