When I applied to Cambridge, everyone warned me to brace myself for how intense the eight-week terms are. It’s something you can’t properly understand until you experience it for yourself. Easter term is especially brutal, and I doubt I was alone in considering dropping out mid-term due to chronic exhaustion, deadlines, and stress. As a first-year Engling, my exams were the absolute last to finish (on the first day of May Week) so the grimness of Easter term was really stretched to its limit, and by the time May Week got into full swing, I was too burnt out and exhausted to actually enjoy it. Nor could I properly rest, as my last week was even more full on, albeit not academically, than any other week of my first year.

Like a lot of people, I needed a full reset when I came home, so that I could recover and manage the transition from chaos to normality. Though, naturally, everyone’s needs are different, here are some things I found helpful when coping with this transition.

“Rotting is sometimes the best antidote to Cambridge burnout”

The first thing goes for anybody: prioritise sleep. I can’t stress enough the impact continual poor sleep has on my mental and physical health. Now exams, deadlines, essay crises, long lab nights and 9 ams are a thing of the past (well, if you’re returning, until October), now’s your time to catch up on missed sleep. By all means party all night, especially if you’ve graduated — congratulations! But allow yourself the luxury of sleeping in late if you can. Everyone’s body clocks are unique so if you’d rather sleep from two, three, or even four in the morning until the early afternoon, then go for it!

However, if you’re like me and have difficulty sleeping, the long vacation is the ideal time to work on this without those 9 am lectures keeping you on your toes. Strategies can include looking into melatonin, practising limiting blue light an hour before bed, and getting an alarm that mimics sunrise to provide a more gradual awakening, rather than a sudden blare that disrupts deep sleep and leaves you groggy.

“Now’s the time to get round to composing that song, writing those poems or learning a new instrument”

One of the most relatable Camfess posts I’ve seen was about feeling the urge to rot for a solid week after term ends. Rotting is sometimes the best antidote to Cambridge burnout and is best done in the earlier half of the vacation. Allow yourself respite from the intense academic stimulation of Cambridge by scrolling on social media and/or bingeing the series you didn’t have time to watch during term.

Now’s the time to take a break from extracurriculars if you’re feeling particularly fried. Speaking from personal experience, during term time you can even end up over-exerting yourself doing the things you love, and risk losing your passions. Treat the vacation as a short break before diving right back into doing whatever it is you love — you’ll hopefully come back with better drive, motivation and new ideas.

Alternatively, take up new hobbies or rediscover old ones if, like me, you quickly become bored with a lack of structure. Maybe you’ve always loved to paint, or perhaps you’ll become the next Paul Hollywood when reacquainted with a properly equipped kitchen instead of what many colleges fob off as ‘gyps.’ I always enjoy having my own creative outlets and ‘slow projects’, which largely get pushed aside during term due to time restraints. Now’s the time to get round to composing that song, writing those poems or learning a new instrument.

"Don’t say yes to every plan if you feel like you need a break"

Make time for self-care, whether that takes the form of looking into mindfulness and meditation (for which there are many free online resources), exercise-centred meditation like yoga, or even looking into therapy if you think you’d benefit from that.

It’s very important to make time for fun and socialising — something which nearly seems outlawed in Cambridge, especially for most of Easter term. Don’t just keep in contact with your uni mates, but meet up with your home friends and take advantage of the (probably much better) local nightlife. That being said, make sure, however difficult, that you’re still establishing boundaries. Don’t say yes to every plan if you feel like you need a break.

One of the main pieces of advice my DoS gave me at my end-of-year meeting was to try and rediscover my passion for my subject. Most of us apply to Cambridge because of our love of a particular subject, but this too frequently gets downtrodden by the pressure of deadlines. She suggested that I remind myself of why I chose to study English by using subject-relevant extracurriculars to engage with areas of my subject that interest me. For Englings, this could be writing, or simply reading a bestseller instead of academic or canonical works. For other subjects, this could be watching mainstream documentaries by the likes of Louis Theroux (particularly for PBS or HSPS), or listening to podcasts about niche areas of your subject you wanted to explore in term time.

Most importantly, I’d encourage everyone to see the long vacation for what it is: a holiday, and, crucially, a break. By now, we’ve still got at least two months off to tackle reading lists, establish healthy habits, and prepare to do it all again in Michaelmas.