Dr Ashleigh Haw (she/her) ♿🏳️‍🌈

A Pattern I Can’t Ignore Anymore. For the past three years, I’ve seen the same scenario play out—over and over, and it’s only getting worse. A student starts missing assignments.
I send a check-in.
I offer flexibility, a meeting, support.
Weeks go by. They resurface—apologetic, citing health or mental health issues.
I respond with compassion. I extend deadlines. I make a plan.
They thank me…
And then… they vanish.
Or miss more.
Or book a meeting they never attend.
Maybe they try one more time.
Maybe they don’t.
And then they’re gone. This isn’t laziness. It’s not entitlement.
It’s something bigger. Something systemic.
Call it burnout. Call it a mass disabling event. Call it post-viral sequelae.
But don’t call it normal. If this isn’t the aftermath of COVID, I don’t know what is. I know this pattern is playing out not just in higher ed, but in healthcare, K-12 schools, the workplace.
If you’ve seen it too—in your field, your family, your life—I’d love to hear from you. Because we can’t fix what we keep pretending is just an individual failing.

A Pattern I Can’t Ignore Anymore. For the past three years, I’ve seen the same scenario play out—over and over, and it’s only getting worse. A student starts missing assignments.
I send a check-in.
I offer flexibility, a meeting, support.
Weeks go by. They resurface—apologetic, citing health or mental health issues.
I respond with compassion. I extend deadlines. I make a plan.
They thank me…
And then… they vanish.
Or miss more.
Or book a meeting they never attend.
Maybe they try one more time.
Maybe they don’t.
And then they’re gone. This isn’t laziness. It’s not entitlement.
It’s something bigger. Something systemic.
Call it burnout. Call it a mass disabling event. Call it post-viral sequelae.
But don’t call it normal. If this isn’t the aftermath of COVID, I don’t know what is. I know this pattern is playing out not just in higher ed, but in healthcare, K-12 schools, the workplace.
If you’ve seen it too—in your field, your family, your life—I’d love to hear from you. Because we can’t fix what we keep pretending is just an individual failing.

I went to the same high school as Sam Kerr. So did two of the girls who were murdered by the Claremont serial killer. For decades, a taxi driver was the suspect. I cannot over emphasise the impact these murders had for girls who went to my school. The fear was drillled into us.