Senioritis — when skipping once in a blue moon becomes once or twice a week, and that one energy drink that you swear is not that good becomes your breakfast everyday. Everyone thinks they know what it’s all about, but until semester two of senior year, you have no idea how bad it can get.
Once the second semester starts, we are thinking about the biggest day of the year — graduation. The countdown begins and it is a race to finish every assignment, test and DBA left. Seniors understand the obligation to finish their classwork, but are exhausted and find paying attention tougher every day. The workload gets worse, and suddenly due dates feel like a suggestion. Simple end-of-the-year projects, such as making a resume or a fake campaign poster, have become impossible to complete and AP classes throw in review for the entire year and expect us to have it down in five days. And in the end, seniors have to accept that there is not enough time in the day to study for exams.
We think a deadline of May 12 in Jan. is more than enough time to finish online classes. Wrong. Here it is, May 2, and students are racing to finish their last module of Spanish 4 or AP Biology. Not only is work still being assigned in person, but you have your online teachers texting you, “Time to get some work done! The year is almost over!”
Senioritis is like a birthday cake, minus the fun. Like a cake with layers, senioritis cannot be categorized as one thing. It is a loss of motivation, large workload, less time in the day and more stress than any one person can handle.
All the extra events seniors have to attend is the icing on the cake. All the honor society stole ceremonies and chord meetings add up. These organizations want to send off us with a proper goodbye, but their events only pile-up our calendar. Most of these ceremonies feel unnecessary, as we have been obligated to attend meetings all year and do not need more events to fill up our time.
People think senioritis is equivalent to laziness or having a careless attitude, but it is a whirlwind of emotions. Imagine being told that you have 10 school days left and still being expected to maintain that “can do” attitude. Seniors have a million things on their plates: clubs, extracurriculars, sports, family responsibilities, homework, senior events, banquets, graduation parties…the list goes on. The end of your senior year is meant to be filled with great memories, but with the amount of work and events, I doubt I have enough time to remember anything.
And speaking of events, many seniors also have to deal with planning and attending graduation parties. Figuring out a location, choosing and inviting the guests, and budgeting for the event are all added to the pre-existing stress of finishing their last year of high school. Everyone decides to host their party on the same day, forcing seniors to pick and choose which ones to attend. The fear of missing out gets to them, worrying they will choose the wrong ones. Sounds like fun, right? Hopefully I can make it to my own party.
And all that assumes our post-high school life is in order. For most, college decisions have already been made and deposits paid. But joining a new school is a whole new ball game and adds another flood of people making demands on our senior time. The constant college emails are flooding in, and something else that is supposed to be the best time of your life is now pushing you over the edge. A million new questions flood your mind. Where will I live? Will I make a meal plan? What classes should I take? Meanwhile, you are getting to know new people as your high school friends stay home.
Senioritis is much more than end-of-the-year stress and wanting to skip every day, it’s every little thing weighing you down, so we should all have sympathy for those of us crumbling from the pressure of what is supposed to be our crowning moment. And juniors, if you are already claiming senioritis a year early, come talk to me next May.
