Senioritis: what is it and why is it accepted

Senioritis. It is a word all of us have heard from adults and teens alike, and many of us are experiencing it. Personally, I feel like I’ve been experiencing senioritis since sophomore year, but that’s neither here nor there. After 4 years of being in the same building all day for 5 days a week for 9 months, I’m just about ready to drop out. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but still, monotony is the enemy of creativity, and school is very monotonous.
Before I became a senior, I had taken senioritis to be a bout of laziness, just people not wanting to do school. However, now that I’m experiencing it, it is so much worse. It’s almost like depression and irritability, all at once. The only energy I have seems to go to being irritated at people stopping in the hallways, too much talking, and drama. As much as I scoffed at people saying they only had senioritis in senior year, I can see what they mean.
Senior year is the last hurrah. One more year, and I’m off to college. Honestly, I’m so sick of it. I just want it to be over, and I think that’s where my senioritis comes from. It’s not necessarily the school work, but just the drag of the last year, knowing I’m basically done but still have to go to school. I’ve already been accepted into college, but I still have a year until I go.
The definition of Senioritis, according to Merriam-Webster, is “an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.” This could explain the previously mentioned lack of motivation. Either that, or the realization that high school has already come to an end in many of our minds. Another attribute could be the freedom that comes with approaching adulthood. Now that our parents aren’t monitoring things as much (my dad has stopped going to parent-teacher conferences completely), it’s easier to slip on homework and studying.
One thing I have noticed about Senioritis is that it is laughed off. When someone says they have senioritis, the reaction is usually acceptance and sympathy, sometimes combined with amusement. Honestly, though, senioritis should not be so accepted. If there comes a time when normally good students are plummeting in grades and attendance, there should be things in place to help them get back up. Unfortunately, there is nothing in place for that.
A possible solution that we, as seniors, could implement is making homework/studying a fun thing by going out with friends to coffee shops. I try to think of senior year as that final stretch in a race; I’ve got to pull my best. However, the problem is that we aren’t allowed to pace ourselves. The years leading up to Senior are spent trying to get good grades for college applications, and when you are accepted, you are still expected to perform the same amount of work just as well. Allowing yourself to have fun while working can be a way to combat this. Let your homework take time (if you have it), and allow yourself to intermittently take breaks for coffee or a TV show.
However, senioritis is not only caused by us. It is also caused by the years and years of our lives where we have been taught that all of our schooling is to prepare for college and the real world. If I had a penny for every time I heard “You won’t be allowed to do that in college, so you can’t here,” I would be at least 50 cents richer. The school system teaches us to prepare for college, yet, when we have been accepted into a college, we still have to keep our performance up. I think Senior year should be classes that are either fun as hobbies, or teach monetary value. I don’t quite see why I need to read “Hamlet” and write essays on it if I have already decided where I’m going to college.
High school is supposed to be a leap-off point, yet is turned into a place where kids are subtly shamed for feeling like they are tired of high school. Allowing seniors to have more reign over what classes to take and allowing more breaks in the day is a great way to keep seniors on track. I know that I have lamented that I can’t have more than 2 opens, even though I have all the credits necessary to graduate.
The fact that this dilemma has a common name really solidifies that it is much too accepted. If a senior complains about feeling burnt out, they are met with “That’s just senioritis!” It provides a way for the school system and adults, in general, to pass off genuine exhaustion as a silly thing that happens to everyone.
Despite its seemingly inescapable nature, senioritis is not incurable. It’s difficult, but I believe we can push past the impulse to give up and keep our momentum. Senior year is a Pandora’s box of stress and worry, but it also contains that last little bit of fun that makes it all worthwhile. To give up now is to abandon what you’ve worked for up until this point. So, don’t close the box yet. This year will be over in a semester, at least try to enjoy it.