Senioritis: Myth or Reality?
JaMonet Rice
JaMonet Rice
It's that time of a year again: the start of a new school year. Which means a new batch of freshman, sophomores, juniors and of course seniors. However, seniors everywhere must avoid the dreaded “senioritis”. Urban dictionary defines senioritis as, “A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude.”
While pop culture over exaggerates it and adults don't believe it, there may be some truth behind the phenomenon that is senioritis. “It feels like it’s flying by and I’m just trying to hold on to anything I can grab, ”says Zach Derrow, a senior at Hillgrove. When depicted in TV shows or movies, seniors that are suffering from senioritis are unmotivated, they lag behind their schoolwork, and overall put little effort into their daily school lives (except for major events like Prom). They can be seen sleeping, in sweatpants, or generally not having a care in the world. Adults usually chalk it up to run of the mill laziness, but is their something tiring and gripping about senior year? “Because we have done it for three years, it’s become so repetitive,” says Nia Furlow, another senior at Hillgrove.
While senioritis can be seen during the first semester, it's the second semester that really takes flight. When second semester rolls around, seniors have applied and have most likely been accepted to college. With seniors thinking their future is secured, it's easy to see why they don't care about missing assignments or skipping a class here and there. It's hard for seniors to stay strong and finish out the semester, if mentally they are thinking, “I'm done. What else is there to do?" “Because it’s our last year and all our motivation is just getting ran out because we’re almost to the finish line of along race,” says Derrow.
However, colleges can take as well as they give. In other words seniors, beware college rescinding letters. If grades drop too much, if you cause yourself problems by skipping too much and causing trouble, that acceptance can and will go back as fast as it came, and the three years you put in will be quite literally, for nothing.
Remember the only cure for senioritis is graduation, so hold on until you get that piece of paper and a handshake, before you dive into a period of laziness. After all, class of 2019, graduation will be here soon enough.
While pop culture over exaggerates it and adults don't believe it, there may be some truth behind the phenomenon that is senioritis. “It feels like it’s flying by and I’m just trying to hold on to anything I can grab, ”says Zach Derrow, a senior at Hillgrove. When depicted in TV shows or movies, seniors that are suffering from senioritis are unmotivated, they lag behind their schoolwork, and overall put little effort into their daily school lives (except for major events like Prom). They can be seen sleeping, in sweatpants, or generally not having a care in the world. Adults usually chalk it up to run of the mill laziness, but is their something tiring and gripping about senior year? “Because we have done it for three years, it’s become so repetitive,” says Nia Furlow, another senior at Hillgrove.
While senioritis can be seen during the first semester, it's the second semester that really takes flight. When second semester rolls around, seniors have applied and have most likely been accepted to college. With seniors thinking their future is secured, it's easy to see why they don't care about missing assignments or skipping a class here and there. It's hard for seniors to stay strong and finish out the semester, if mentally they are thinking, “I'm done. What else is there to do?" “Because it’s our last year and all our motivation is just getting ran out because we’re almost to the finish line of along race,” says Derrow.
However, colleges can take as well as they give. In other words seniors, beware college rescinding letters. If grades drop too much, if you cause yourself problems by skipping too much and causing trouble, that acceptance can and will go back as fast as it came, and the three years you put in will be quite literally, for nothing.
Remember the only cure for senioritis is graduation, so hold on until you get that piece of paper and a handshake, before you dive into a period of laziness. After all, class of 2019, graduation will be here soon enough.