Workload, homesickness, FOMO led to Sarah’s hiatus from college
Picture Provided by Sarah Bottenberg.
Sarah Bottenberg, a former student of the University of Nevada, Reno though that after surviving high school, transitioning into college life should have been no different. However, that idea dissipated after her first semester. The reality of being a college student, and being away from her friends and family, took Bottenberg for a spin. Ultimately, she dropped out.
“Honestly, I thought that I would handle it way better than high school… because my whole view was like, ‘This is my chance to enter adulthood on my own and be independent,’ and, you know, get away from this life and enter a new life,” Sarah Bottenberg said. “It was lowkey really naive of me to think I could immediately step into that and already be in that mindset,”
After graduating from Durango High School in Las Vegas, Bottenberg moved to Reno, Nevada in August to attend UNR and settled in her dormitory at Peavine Hall.
Jumping right onto the ship of higher education is the most typical route for an American teenager who’s fresh out of high school. In 2021, 63 percent of high school graduates made immediate transition to college. But for Bottenberg, this wasn’t the best decision.
“I liked having that independence and learning things, but also on top of that… Everything was very overwhelming because I never really, like– I’ve been running away from adulthood my whole life,” said Bottenberg. “And so to have to jump right into it, it’s like, whoa, I was not prepared,”
Bottenberg’s initial idea of going to college right after high school seemed like it wasn’t a big deal aside from homesickness. But having the pressure of deciding where one’s life course goes and dealing with that burden alone, she could not foresee such stressors due to her limited life experience.
“I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I was just– I was so afraid of wasting money on classes that weren’t important to whatever thing I go into and just wasting time,” Said Bottenberg.
Bottenberg’s major during the Fall 2023 semester was psychology.
“...I thought about it a lot, and I just don’t think being a therapist would – like what I initially intended – would be smart,” Bottenberg said.
For Bottenberg, homesickness, adjusting to her new home, and academic struggles were her stressors. A 2023 survey found that approximately 56 percent of students have experienced chronic stress while attending college.
Finishing a semester at UNR made Bottenberg realize just how momentous of a change attending college is.
“You have to be knowledgeable of, like, how much money this is costing, like, how serious this is for the future,” Bottenberg said. “Like, you’re wasting time, you’re wasting money and it’s like I feel I have to get it right and that– it’s so overwhelming.”
Apart from financial and existential worries, homesickness played a big role in increasing Bottenberg’s mental health concerns.
“All my friends were back at home, and they were, like, doing things. And I felt like being in Reno my life was on pause in college,” Bottenberg said.
Enrollment at UNR itself was another major contributor to her stress. The workload and lack of affinity from her pre-calculus exam hit her like a truck despite cramming for twelve hours.
During her first exam for precalculus, Bottenberg froze up after seeing the first page. She barely had an idea of what to write. Bottenberg ended up failing that exam.
“...math stressed me out the entire rest of the year because I was just conscious, like, every test matters,” Bottenberg said.
Bottenberg managed to find some methods to relieve her stress, like having lunch with her friend every Thursday and going with her roommate to sorority meetings.
“I called people a lot. I called friends a lot to catch up and see how they were doing.”
And even in a whole other city, Bottenberg found a support system with her suitemates.
Despite that, college was still a heavy burden on Bottenberg’s mental health. Bottenberg finally realized she needed to take a step back and has dropped out of UNR.
“I already struggle enough… I mean, maybe if I find something I’m really, really passionate about, but I know I couldn’t do it with psych. So, I already was confused on what major and then I also was definitely considering going home just because I don’t know how I feel about right now.” Bottenberg said.
Bottenberg is home with her family in Las Vegas. She works at Applebee’s and is taking it slow. She is deciding if she wants to resume higher education next year at UNLV or CSN.
UNR provides counseling services, such as in-person sessions or phone calls, individual counseling from licensed clinicians and trainees, group therapy, etc.
For more information, UNR students may visit https://www.unr.edu/counseling/services.
