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Teachers see it every year. Juniors begin to wonder if they’ll catch it next September, and 12th graders are battling the illness until June rolls around with final exams and graduation within their grasp. Before this year, I never really took ‘senioritis’ seriously. I just figured it was something that people talked about and made to be this huge ordeal. I figured that in reality, being a senior was just the same as being a junior, sophomore, or freshman. Needless to say, I was very wrong. As a senior who is just over halfway done with her final year of high school, I can tell you that senioritis truly does exist. It’s a state of mind: you are so, so close to being done with high school you can almost taste the crappy college cafeteria food right now. Once you’ve finished applying to colleges and have received a few acceptance letters, you really start to wonder why you even have to finish the year. You have your plan and you know what field you’re going to go into. Even for students that are currently “Undecided” know that high school is done helping them. For me, senioritis is realizing that you’re growing up. You have so much going on now and you start focusing on life in the real world, not the world of high school. For me, I’m realizing that I don’t fit in with the rest of my school anymore. I’m onto bigger and better things, and I can’t wait to get started.
Unfortunately, I still have to graduate. I still have to maintain good grades in order to go to my dream school, and whether or not you can control your case of senioritis could be the deciding factor on a scholarship or even admission into college next year. It’s always been hard to focus on studying when you’d rather be doing other things. However, when you’re a senior, this restlessness is amplified even more because you don’t see the point in it anymore. Deep down, you know that you have to finish the year and your high school career strong, but after the stress of applying for college is over, it’s harder to remember the point of studying. I know personally, I probably could have gotten higher scores on tests this year, but I’m not so focused on ‘being good at school’ anymore. Senioritis can be tricky, because while it’s a sign of growing up and focusing on your life outside of high school, it can also be an excuse to slack off senior year. Seniors (myself included) need to learn how to find balance in their lives. My advice to current juniors and even current seniors is to remind yourself every day why you need to keep giving 100% to your school work. Whether it’s to continue playing on varsity for the rest of the school year, or to ensure you’ll get that big scholarship, remind yourself why it’s important to stay the course.
However, remember that your life is changing. Before this year, your job was school. Next year, if you plan to go to college, your job will still be school, but you’ll be studying what you want to spend your life doing. Don’t sweat the small stuff and keep in mind that while high school is still important, you are moving on with your life. I personally think senioritis is healthy, but only if you know how to manage it. Senioritis is natural; it happens to the best of us. The key is being able to recognize when you’re slacking off too much, and get yourself back on track. You want to be able to look yourself in the mirror on the day you graduate and know that you gave your final year your best. So get out there, buckle down, and finish high school with a bang. Be proud of the performance you gave so that when you take that walk to your diploma, you can hold your head high, knowing you gave high school your very best up until the end.
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