“I don’t feel like going to school,” “Huh, we had homework?” “I just want to graduate already!” Are you lacking motivation for school? Are you missing first and second period classes? Do your eyelids get more attention than your teachers in class? Has your bag become the most comfortable pillow ever? Don’t you think you should get a grade for all of the college stress you endure? Are you taking pictures of your textbook homework with your phone, yet you still come to school without the work complete? Is your excuse for lateness every week because of the elevator or gym? Do you check your Facebook every five minutes and wait until 10pm or 12 am to start your homework? Are you going out on school nights? Are you denying all of these questions? If so, consider this your diagnosis of SENIORITIS. The good news is that you do not have to be admitted into the hospital.

Senioritis is a syndrome experienced by every high school senior, which means every student has a 100 percent chance of getting it. It attacks high-achievers, average and struggling students all the same. Symptoms include lethargy, procrastination, decreased motivation and apathy regarding schoolwork.

The truth is that the seniors are exhausted and tired. It’s like the teachers don’t understand either because they give us so much work that seems pointless to us. After applying to your top colleges, after running all over the school for college help because you can’t find anyone in the college advisory rooms, after stressing over recommendation letters and transcripts, and our other academic work, we need about a month’s worth of vacation. It is challenging as we try to balance our packed schedules, SATs, social lives, extracurricular activities, the college process and admissions, jobs, and community service. Somehow, homework becomes less and less of a priority. Homework is even less important to us as we get our college acceptance letters.

Senioritis is like a bad cold; it is easy to catch and hard to get rid of. Senioritis can also have a huge impact on your future plans. Do you think just because you have been accepted into a college that you can slack off? Well, think again. All colleges have the right to withdraw your offer of admissions. The college can even change or take away the financial support they granted you with or put you on academic probation. Besides, what if you slack off so much to a point where it is too late for you to bring up your grade and you can’t graduate? These are things you have to think about.

The obvious symptoms of senioritis can also impact the underclassmen in our school because as seniors, we lead by example and they are following our bad examples. The underclassmen will think it is cool to slack off, do homework in homeroom, sleep in class or cut class and chill in 303. Imagine working extremely hard as an honor student in freshman, sophomore, and junior year and then slacking off in your senior year; it doesn’t make sense. How can we be catalysts for change if we are shortchanging ourselves through laziness and nonchalant attitudes? You have to work harder than your mind may want to.

Turn your laziness and desire to graduate into motivation for what you will achieve in the future. As much as we complain and complain about school, we will be finished in no time because time really does fly. If you do what you have to do, time will move even faster.
According to a “Hundreds of Heads” article on coping with senioritis, Zachary Klion, a student from Yale University said, “Embrace senioritis: leave school early for no good reason. It’s a nice feeling. You should have a pretty easy schedule.” Do you think he graduated?
All seniors should try to combat senioritis so that when you leave high school and enter college, you won’t have adopted the quality of laziness. Also, you don’t want to sit in college taking a bunch of remedial courses. You should finish senior year focused with energy and motivation because college is right around the corner. In the meantime, don’t get caught up with the admissions.