As the school year comes to an end, Grade 10 students at CDNIS feel that burnout is no longer a possibility, but instead practically part of the curriculum.
With final exams coming up, summatives piling on, and the daunting Diploma Programme ahead, many students find themselves in a dilemma: counting down the days and wondering how there are still so many left. At this stage, burnout isn’t just about being tired, it’s mental fatigue that makes even simple tasks feel difficult disproportionately. Motivation dips, focus slips, and even the most organized planners start to lose their reassurance.
A student jokes: “I’ve stopped studying ahead, the due date is the do date.”
“I’ve spent more time stressing than being productive so I decided to make a to-do list,” another admitted, “Which I scheduled, for later, because I couldn’t get myself to do it.”
The MYP’s structure requires critical thinking and independence over time, which often reaches its peak intensity in Grade 10. By now, students are expected to juggle projects, internships, volunteering service, still maintain strong academic performance across subjects, and prepare for the significantly more demanding coming years.
Despite the exhaustion, many students have found the key to push through, fuelled by deadlines, expectations, video games, hobbies, and the collective understanding that no student is alone. The comfortability in shared burnout, everyone is silently managing. Teachers and coordinators have always acknowledged the strain, but the rigorous programme leaves limited room for slowing down. After all, the leniency will just decline from here. As a result, students are left to develop their own coping strategies, ranging from highly structured planning to brief moments of acknowledgement.
“I think we’ve all accepted that being a little burnt out is the default now,” my friend sighs. “But we’ve all found our own push factor, like little rewards for us to keep spirits up.”
In the end, burnout in the final months of Grade 10 is less an anomaly, instead a shared experience, shedding light onto both challenges of the MYP and the resilience of students navigating it. While motivation might be running low, something is consistent: the finish line is approaching.
