It’s two weeks until summer break ends and fall semester 2025 begins!
The Hidden Weight of Week -2
In the weeks before classes start, everything looks quiet on the surface—but inside, students and faculty are already carrying weight.
Not textbooks. Not laptops. The mental backpack.
I’ve come to expect it in myself and in others. That slow build of anxiety. The feeling that I should be doing more, preparing more, knowing more. For students, it’s even heavier. They’re carrying the stories of what went wrong last semester, fears about hard classes, warnings from classmates about “that one professor,” money stress, and the pressure to figure out who they are—fast.
And they don’t even know they’re carrying it.
Instead, you just feel tired. Or behind. Or scattered before things have even begun.
That’s normal. It doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong.
It means you’re human, and you’re full.
One Small Shift
Before you try to pack anything new into your semester, take five minutes to unpack what’s already in your bag.
Most of the stress we carry isn’t just about what we’re doing—it’s about what we’ve committed to, often without realizing it. We make internal promises like:
- “This semester I’ll be perfectly organized.”
- “I’ll finally catch up on everything I’ve fallen behind on.”
- “I’ll say yes to good opportunities that come my way.”
These invisible expectations pile up fast. And most of them aren’t necessary. They’re just perfectionism wearing a productivity mask.
Here’s a simple reflection to help clear the clutter. Grab a notebook or your notes app, and ask:
- How am I feeling right now about the upcoming semester?
Anxious? Tired? Hopeful? Unmotivated? Just name it. - What do I already feel pressure to get right?
Think about school, work, friendships, routines, finances—where are you holding tension? - Where might I be expecting myself to do everything, when I really only need to do what matters?
You can do anything—but not everything.
(Greg McKeown)
You’ve only got so many hours. A good rule of thumb is 2–3 hours of schoolwork per credit hour per week. So if you’re taking 15 credits, that’s 30–45 hours of work outside of class every week—on top of whatever else life is asking of you.
If your plan doesn’t fit inside your real life, the plan needs to change—not you.
So ask yourself:
- What actually matters most to me this semester?
- What can I gently place down—for now—so I can give that thing the attention it deserves?
You don’t need to organize your whole life today. Just make space for what matters. That’s enough.
For Faculty: Design for Students with Full Lives
If you teach, here’s a challenge I give myself:
Can I come up with any explanation for a student’s behavior other than laziness?
When someone shows up late, turns in work half-done, or seems checked out, it’s easy to assume they don’t care. But more often than not, that behavior is a natural psychological response to overwhelm—academic, emotional, or both. The ones who seem disengaged are often the ones carrying the most.
So: How can we help students who walk into our courses already weighed down?
We start by designing with real humans in mind.
That doesn’t mean lowering standards—it means being clear and intentional about the time, energy, and structure our courses demand. The most helpful things we can do in Week -2 and Week -1 are simple:
- Write a syllabus that’s accurate, consistent, and clear
- Set up your LMS in advance so students can see the shape of the course
- Send a welcome announcement that lets students plan ahead and know what to expect
Remember, your class is one piece of a much larger puzzle. Students are balancing work, family, financial pressure, and four or five other courses. If they’re going to succeed, they need to understand—up front—what it will take.
University guidelines say students should expect 2–3 hours of work per credit hour each week. Are you designing within that boundary?
If you’re not sure how long your assignments take, ask your students. This is some of the most valuable feedback you can get. Did your course achieve its goals with an appropriate investment of time and effort? Or are you smoothing over an ineffective pedagogy by blaming students for not trying hard enough?
Rigorous empathy means holding high expectations and designing responsibly within the context of students’ real lives. We don’t need to guess what they’re carrying—but we can make sure we’re not adding to it blindly.
Make(r) Space
Whether you’re starting this semester as a student, a faculty member, or both, give yourself the room you need to thrive and create.
Start by making space. Let go of one thing. Design with care. And make room—for yourself, and for each other.
