While it’s only the second term of the school year, the activities and priorities for seniors are ramping up, from senior sunrise to ordering cap & gowns to college applications. With senior year, though, comes senioritis. A phenomenon that hits seniors every year. Have you caught senioritis yet?
“Ever since I submitted that UT application, all the gears have just been switched off, I do not want to be here anymore,” Murtaza Khan (12) said.
The main contributor to catchining senioritis seems to be fatigue, and the fact that seniors are so close to graduating. Because seniors have already taken the SAT or ACT and have started submitting applications to college, the motivation decreases. Additionally, many seniors spend less time on campus due to free periods and dual enrollment classes.
“Basically, you’re done so there’s not a lot of motivation to go to school because you get into your schools, and then it’s like ‘well, why am I still going,” Natalie Hawkins (12) said.
Moreover, once college applications are finished, the motivation for school can go down.
“Once the [applications] are submitted, that weight that’s been on your shoulders for months at this point –or years sometimes– gets released, so you’re like ‘now what?’,” Khan said, “I think that’s a main reason why senioritis happens after submitting college apps because you’re just like I just did this really really big thing that’s going to impact me for the rest of my life so let me just relax.”
Senioritis isn’t always detrimental though, and it can be avoided. Keeping busy and staying involved in school organizations can help prevent senioritis.
“I’m just trying to do extracurriculars, to be honest because I feel like that really helps with focusing on actual school work because if you’re not stressed out about school, youre stressed out about something else, so it’s good to stress out sometimes,” Khan said.
Even though senior year can be stressful and difficult to get through, it’s also a time to take in all your last high school experiences and memories.
“A lot of the other years I didn’t have a lot of time to go to the events because I was so worried about classes but like now I can go to the football games, I can go to the dances like all the time and just hangout with my friends,” Hawkins said.
Senioritis is inevitable, but there are ways to avoid and not let it take over your senior year.