I Wrote the Abstract. I Lost Myself.

I used to think writing an abstract was just another box to check. You finish the paper, then you summarize it—easy. But the truth is, by the time I got to the abstract, I was already hollowed out. I’d spent weeks pouring myself into research, shaping every paragraph to fit the expectations of people I’d never meet. The guidelines were always clear: be concise, be objective, be useful. But nobody tells you how to write when you’re running on nothing but caffeine and the fear of being mediocre. Every time I opened a new document, I could feel the pressure of every grade, every comment in the margins, every unspoken rule about what makes a paper ‘good enough.’ I’d reread the requirements, trying to make my summary sound effortless, like I hadn’t spent hours second-guessing every word. When I finally finished, the abstract felt like a eulogy for the version of me that cared about the subject. I was supposed to help someone decide if my work was worth reading. But all I could think was: was it worth writing? Was I worth the effort? Nobody talks about how much of yourself you lose in the process. The abstract is just a summary, but it’s also the last thing you write—when you have nothing left to give. #AcademicBurnout #CollegeReality #NotJustGrades #Education