For many Creighton students (myself included), fall break offered more than just time to watch Netflix — it was a chance to escape for a week from the constant Creighton conversations about test scores and extracurricular activites.

Over fall break I met up with some friends from high school, and we all vented about our ever-increasing workloads. One of my friends was telling me about a rigorous research lab she was involved in this semester. 

Yet when thinking about her workload in comparison to some of my friends’ experiences at Creighton, all I could think about was how at Creighton, a student in the same research lab would probably also be the recruitment chair of her sorority, president of another organization, and taking 18 credits.

Sure, all schools have overachieving students. But is there something about Creighton that attracts multitudes of stressed-out students? I think there’s some truth to this.

For one, Creighton attracts successful students. Approximately 80 percent of current Creighton students were members a service or church organization in high school, and approximately 78 percent were on a varsity athletics team. With even more clubs to join at Creighton, it’s easy to see why students who were already involved in high school would want to ramp up their involvement in college.

I also think that Creighton’s Jesuit values, to a certain extent, help influence the mindset of students . After all, Creighton is always telling its students to push for “more.” For some students, that means pushing themselves to an extreme.

Arts & Sciences junior Nick Tvrdy said he latched on to the overachieving Creighton mentality his freshman year. Before the end of his freshman year, Tvrdy had joined the Inter Residence Hall Government , the Creightones, Student Support Services and Greek Life, in addition to participating in leadership programs through the Student Activities Office. His sophomore year, he dropped the Creightones, but joined the Cortina program.

“And mind you, there are some things I’ve totally suppressed from my memory just because I can’t remember how many things I’ve done at Creighton,” Tvrdy said.  “And it was all because I didn’t feel pressure from my classes.”

During the second semester of his sophomore year, as classes started to get harder, Tvrdy slowly came to the “painful” realization that something had to change. His GPA was slipping, and he wasn’t able to keep up with his commitments. During some of his most stressful weeks, Tvrdy said he even conducted meetings in his sleep.

It’s an all-too-familiar cycle; after all, the term “sophomore slump” was coined for a reason. As classes begin to get harder, sophomores begin to realize that they might not be able to keep up with the schedule they were accustomed to during freshman year.

“My friends are going through so many breakdowns right now,” Arts & Sciences sophomore Maggie Fleita said. “I’ve had to console so many people.”

For Fleita, staying sane means staying active, but also placing a high priority on prioritizing. A dancer, Fleita values the sport as a way to spend time with friends and to stay fit. She said she tried out many clubs freshman year, but only stuck with a few core activities.But for Tvrdy, keeping his mental sanity meant he had to drop all but one of his extracurricular activities. He said he still struggles with the fear of missing out.

“I’m a lot less involved. I have a lot more breathing room, and I don’t feel right about it,” Tvrdy said.

It’s a paradox that Joe Ecklund, director of the Creighton EDGE program, sees often in students. Ecklund worked at three other universities before coming to Creighton.

While Ecklund doesn’t believe that Creighton students experience more stress than students at other schools, but he does believe Creighton students are more driven.

During Ecklund’s first year as a Welcome Week adviser, more than 200 students applied to be Welcome Week leaders; at other schools, he said it was like “pulling teeth,” to try and get students to do something like that.

While Ecklund said he admires the enthusiasm, “our students need to realize that it’s OK to say ‘no’ sometimes.” According to Ecklund, relieving stress starts with always putting school first.

“If students can identify a time when they’re going to study on a routine, regular basis, and if they do that as part of their class schedule … they will find that their stress level will be reduced, because they’ve built time into their schedule to study,” Ecklund said.

Arts & Sciences senior Gina Drummond said she learned time management skills in high school after playing volleyball, and applied them frequently at Creighton. Drummond is currently involved in Greek Life, Pre-Occupational Therapy Club and Eucharistic Ministry.

“I think I know how to prioritize things, and I’ve learned that sometimes extracurricular activities need to come second to school,” Drummond said.

With their distinctive experiences, do Tvrdy, Drummond and Fleita also believe that Creighton students are more involved than students at other universities?

“Yeah, absolutely,” Tvrdy said.

“Oh my god, yes,” Drummond said.

“Oh definitely. I feel like Creighton is always just go-go-go. People are like, ‘I’m a Creighton student, I don’t need to stop,” Fleita said.