Dean of Freshman Elizabeth Studley Nathans says her office counsels a fair amount of burnout cases each year.

"The one thing we do know is that some people come here having spent so much time trying to get into a place that they don't know what comes next," Nathans says. "There are a whole lot of reasons why people get burned out. It's a catch all term for a lot of things. It's really such an individual thing and it requires many, many hours of talking [to solve]."

That's the hard part.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Travis D. Wheatley '99-'00 had to solve it by leaving for a while.

When Wheatley hit the second semester of his first year, he fell into a pattern that he says was induced by a case of burnout.

"I just wanted to sit around and drink and play video games and sleep," he says.

The full effects of the burnout came gradually, but he really hit his breaking point junior year.

"I skipped one class totally. I just sat around," he says. "I realized I just wasn't having fun. I couldn't drag myself out of bed until three in the afternoon."

After taking a year away from school to reflect, Wheatley says the time off was extremely positive and he recommends it to anyone who feels unable to handle Harvard.

"Now whenever I feel like I'm getting burned out again, I remember that after this semester and next semester I'll be graduated," he says.

Some students claim the burnout arises from the Harvard atmosphere, which can be stifling and stagnant.

"Just being here, being in the same room all of the time, eating the same food every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday," says Tiziana Vargas '01. "You get tired of everyday being the same."

"My body gets up, gets showered, gets dressed and gets to class just because it's used to it," she continues.

Vargas says she has realized all-nighters are not worth the drowsiness and always gets her eight hours of sleep.

Right now, she is just concentrating on making it through the next year and a half.