Maekyla Massey was absent the entire first week of school. But she wasn’t off enjoying her last few days of summer or catching up on sleep. The 16 year old junior was in Queens, giving a TEDx Talk on the perils of academic burnout. This was a long time goal for the aspiring politician. She first got the idea for her TEDx Talk at the beginning of high school when she herself struggled with feelings of burnout. After coming out the other side of her experience victorious, she dreamed of sharing what she learned with others. Two years later, she made this dream a reality by applying for a TEDx Talk. Months later, just as the chaos of AP testing was ramping up, she found out she was chosen for the talk. This is when the real work began. Maekyla spent the summer writing, editing, revising and memorizing the script for her TEDx Conference. By the end of the summer, she was ready.

For those lucky enough to have never personally experienced academic burnout, Maekyla provides a clear explanation, categorizing it as “a mental or physical collapse caused by overwork or stress”. It manifests itself as irregular sleeping patterns, muscle tensions, constant fatigue, difficulty concentrating and irritability. While many of these things are often written off as teenage angst, Maekyla says it’s important to realize that it could be more. Academic burnout affects over 70% of teens in the U.S every year, and is becoming an increasingly important issue. The mental and physical well-being of the American youth has to be made a priority, they are tantamount to the future of the nation. This was the driving force behind Maekyla’s talk: informing people about the struggles of academic burnout and how to overcome it. In her talk, Maekyla details strategies that helped her overcome her own burnout in the hope of helping others; she urges students to reevaluate their intentions, prioritize downtime. In her own words “Experiencing burnout is difficult. We aren’t in control when we are mentally and physically drained. Instead of letting burnout get the best of us, we need to actively take control of the situation.”

Maekyla’s TEDx Talk should be published on TED.com or the TEDx Talks YouTube channel starting November 27th. In the meantime, Maekyla is using the same skills she outlines in her TEDx Talk to balance her junior year of highschool with her active role in the community outside of school. Maekyla is an active member of New York Democrats’ campaigns, she canvasses in the community, and makes phone calls to help garner support for their cause. She also works with “Voters Of Tomorrow” a non-partisan organization committed to encouraging Gen-z to participate in the political sector. However, educating her peers on the dangers of academic burnout is still a priority. Maekyla is preparing to fly to Anchorage, Alaska in February of 2023 to give another TED Talk to help spread the word about academic burnout, so this is only the beginning. Maekyla is incredibly grateful to have been given a platform to educate others on such an important issue, and she says that she will continue to use the platform she’s been given for as long as it is available to her.