Job burnout

[mscandy]

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Hi my fellow SDNers,

I would like to warn ya'all that this is a venting thread, probably with a lot of negativity (maybe more negativity than what you can get with Black Mirror.)

Long story short, I started working as a tutor last year. I liked it at first, but felt burnout shortly about three months in. There are a lot of reasons: boss being inconsiderate, colleagues making me do all the work, students being so dependent and disorganized (like, why do you have to ask me how to solve "what number is 200 less than 1813" when I showed you how to do it 3 times? why can't you just try the method I showed you and stop forcing me to tell you the answer?), and work being too easy but tedious.

At first I told myself to stick to it. I convinced myself that I was just too stressed out by med school application, that I redirected my frustration to the innocent job. However, I had some luck this cycle and now there is no need to stress out anymore, but I still feel frustrated while working there. I am a generally likable person and I hided all my emotions at work. What pains me is that I could not let the negativity go and brought it back home. I love my family but I can tell that my unhappiness is affecting them too.

I am an amateur reader of psychology. I think I lack emotional support. It's not like my boss and colleague are helping me overcome my negativity in a slightly helpful way. Heck, my boss would just throw me into a room with ten students on the waiting list and tell anyone who walks in "go and ask mscandy!" And she gave me a very discouraging face when I asked for days off to go to interviews. Most but one colleague of mine would chat with each other or read or do whatever they like, ignoring the waiting students. Guess what, it is down to me to help them.

There was one time when I hated myself for feeling burnout. I doubted myself, and so did my family: if I can't stand working with students, how would I possibly survive interacting with patients? Luckily, I love my another job. I also found another teaching job and I love it. Volunteering with patients, oh the lovely patients, always makes me feel happy. I finally made peace with the fact that this job just doesn't tick with me, and it will never tick. I was taught to never judge other people, but now I learned not to judge myself too hard.

I am ready to quit this job and enjoy my summer.

 

[21Rush12]

Bro.

Quit this job, leave the stress behind and get ready for Med School.

Work at Starbucks or something chill if you need a job.

 

[Sidthekiddd]

Same! I'm ready to quit and just chill till med school but I think I'll end up super bored and that scares me more than being miserable.

 

[Verity]

I'm so sorry, that sounds awful!

Fortunately, you're not in a powerless situation. I see from your signature you have medical school acceptances - clearly you don't need this job long-term. You should be enjoying your time! If you really wanna stick at it, a few suggestions regarding the problems you brought up:

1) If you see fellow tutors not actively helping students while multiple students are waiting for assistance, frankly, grab a kiddo or two and march them right up to your co-worker, and be like, "Miss X is very good at fractions. I'm sure she'd enjoy working with you!"... then walk away

2) Your boss probably needs you more than you need her. The next time your boss makes faces or questions giving you time off for interviews, very clearly state that you enjoy helping the students and think your work is very important/will try to minimize inconveniences, but that attending interviews for medical school is non-negotiable and if she thinks this will continue to be a problem, you'll have to find work elsewhere. Else, you'd appreciate support and flexibility.

3) Tutoring struggling children is almost more about life/study skills than content itself. If they don't have these, you're already fighting a losing battle. Tutoring will continue to be hell if you ignore this and don't work on these. Ya gotta have skills like focus, independence, and organization to be ultimately successful. Maybe shifting your view of frustrating situations with students from "ugh I already showed you this" to realizing weaknesses in life/study skills and seeing this as an opportunity to impart something to the student that will really, truly benefit them for the rest of your life might make it more enjoyable??



...... and if you're just ready to be done, girl, just QUIT! (and congratulations on the acceptances!)

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Can you please just QUIT this job and RELAX for the next six months ??

It's very noble that you want to finish out this tutoring gig but this is one time you should be SELFISH and take time off for yourself and let your worries fly away like a little birdie leaving the nest and never coming back!

Look at the big picture --- once you start med school, you are stuck on a LONG journey that will be non-stop stress that will make this tutoring job look like child's play. You should have ZERO guilt about enjoying your time off until that long journey begins. Spend the next six months doing nothing but Netflix marathons, walks in the park/beach, and maybe some traveling if you can afford it. Spend some time hanging out on SDN to get good advice about how to handle the rigors and challenges of school. Be WELL RESTED both physically and mentally by the time you start medical school.