Burnout is a staple of the college experience and accompanies me through each spring semester with an unfortunate level of reliability. This year, the news is making it worse. 

Our never-ending assignment lists are joined by a barrage of news about the Trump administration and daily catastrophes, making life feel particularly chaotic and overwhelming. 

President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance verbally accosted President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in a televised Oval Office meeting Friday, prompting European leaders to put support behind Ukraine. 

“The free world needs a new leader,” said European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas.

Trump temporarily suspended all U.S. military aid to Ukraine on Monday, following the Friday meeting. Trump imposed or increased tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on Tuesday, prompting retaliation from America’s three biggest trading partners.  

It’s difficult to know what will greet you in the news each day. Trump has a knack for one-upping his actions. 

Jaye Hautamaki-Shaw, a first-year student at the University of Minnesota, said she tries to keep up with the news as much as she can, but it can be overwhelming. 

“Just hearing the news and what’s going on in the world, and especially our country, takes so much energy out of me and makes it so much harder to find the worth in doing things,” Hautamaki-Shaw said. 

College is already a time of uncertainty and that alone can be daunting, not to mention the uncertainty of our politics under the Trump administration. 

“My academic load is already a lot,” Hautamaki-Shaw said. “On top of it, hearing about the condition of the world that I’m growing up to live in and that I’m going to be an adult in and have power in is just exhausting.”

Liza Meredith, an assistant professor of psychology at the University, said burnout is common among college students because of the number of responsibilities they have. The uncertainty within politics and the news has also been impacting students. 

“Both ahead of the election and after the election, I had more students come forward than normal about the amount of stress that they were experiencing,” Meredith said. “Some express feeling fearful about the direction the world is going. Others feeling like they wanted to make a difference in the world, but not really sure where and how they can help with things.”

Meredith said fewer students reached out to her recently than shortly after the election. She said this could indicate students are more burnt out and isolating rather than reaching out for help. 

College students also balance many different aspects of their lives simultaneously, such as academics, relationships, finances and jobs, which can be overwhelming, Meredith said. 

On top of this, what’s going on in society can add an additional layer of stress. The more these aspects of life feel off concurrently, the more overwhelming they can be.

“If your academics are going poorly, but you feel like more generally, things in the world are feeling okay, you’re not going to feel as stressed out because it doesn’t feel like everything is stressful simultaneously,” Meredith said. “But when multiple areas of your life feel overwhelming, it can make people feel that much more powerless because they don’t necessarily feel like they can change or improve in multiple areas at once.”

The Trump administration’s policy decisions are impacting career and research fields firsthand. Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as research funding and grants, remain uncertain as the administration targets educational institutions. 

“It’s even more stressful if you’re seeing that political changes might impact future directions that you as a student are considering,” Meredith said. 

Benjamin Toff, an associate professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of the Minnesota Journalism Center, said the instability within politics paired with the volume of information available online can be overwhelming and draining, especially for busy college students. The instability of federal funding within universities is another added source of stress stemming from the Trump administration’s actions.

The Trump administration’s actions are hitting certain groups on campus particularly hard, making not only future career paths uncertain but also their future well-being, Toff said. These actions impact many groups differently and to varying degrees

Maxwell B., a first-year student at the University, said the election and political events that followed made life as a transgender first-generation student feel uncertain, dangerous and, at times, hopeless. 

“I’m a trans man, so the different policies that come through, it’s just a threat to my identity,” Maxwell said. “I wasn’t able to be open and out until I came to university in the fall, and it’s been wonderful getting to live as myself, and now it feels under threat and under fire.”  

Threats to DEI initiatives and federal funding also put educational opportunities in jeopardy, Maxwell said. 

College is difficult enough. Students should not have to fear for their safety, future well-being and the stability of their education. 

Only so much of this stress and anxiety can be mitigated, but it’s important to focus on what we can control, according to Meredith. It can also be helpful to connect with others who share these worries to realize you’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. These connections can also help students realize they’re not alone in wanting to fight for a better future. 

“There’s evidence showing that right after reading the news, people can feel more depressed and anxious,” Meredith said. “If you’re already feeling burnt out and kind of low in your mood, maybe limiting news to particular times of the day that feel like when you can take that on.”

Reading the news can feel even more discouraging when you don’t know what to do about it. 

“I’ve heard from a lot of people who feel this way is a kind of sense of resignation, like that there’s nothing you can do about any of these terrible things happening in the world,” Toff said. 

To manage this, students can take intentional breaks from the news, talk with others about current events and explore different mediums of news consumption that work best for them, according to Toff. It can also be helpful to get involved at a local level, such as in community organizations that help groups most affected by the Trump administration’s policies. 

“On the local level, that’s where you actually can make a more meaningful impact,” Toff said. “I think it also makes them feel better that they’re actually able to take action and respond to some of what’s happening.” 

It’s easy to feel hopeless and overwhelmed right now, especially as more of Trump’s policies impact students and universities across the country. 

It’s important to stay informed because that is the only way people can begin to make a difference and hold leaders accountable. In the effort to follow the news, we also must take care of ourselves and know that the simple act of staying informed is making a better future possible.

To make the world a better place, we must understand it first.