Sen·ior·i·tis

• 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. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation. (Urban Dictionary) 

College apps submitted, first semester coming close to the end, and the seniors are struggling to stay afloat in the tidal wave that is senior year. Although senioritis usually hits most seniors every year, the wave seems to be coming exceptionally earlier this year. It’s only the third week of October, and it seems like almost every senior has surrendered themselves to senioritis.

Why does this happen? Well, once seniors are completely finished with college applications, they feel their senior year grades don’t matter anymore and lose their motivation to continue to get good grades. Sophomore, Haley Palumbo explains, “Senioritis is when you are at the point in time when you feel like you are done with all things school; that everything is just stupid and unnecessary and you can’t wait for your real life to begin.” Senioritis gets increasingly worse once seniors start receiving acceptances, and finally commit to one school. It’s safe to say senioritis has taken over the Class of 2016,  but – there is still time left to turn the year around.

So, how can seniors avoid this plague of lack of motivation? There are ways, and it definitely is possible to find that motivation to finish out the year:

• Set personal goals for yourself – set high expectations for your grades to make sure you don’t drop that GPA, like, try not to get any C’s on your report card, or limit your number of B’s
• Think about your dream college seeing your grades – Colleges can’t see if you failed those few math tests, right? Wrong! Slacking off during senior year isn’t acceptable by most colleges and may result in a college revoking your acceptance
• Stay organized – Stay on top of your schoolwork and make sure you write down all due dates into your planner, especially college application deadlines. Staying organized with your schoolwork and college applications will make your life much easier!

Along with seniors, some underclassmen admit they’ve also succumbed to senioritis as well, which is scary to think about because they still have 2-3 years of high school left! Palumbo says, “I think I had senioritis when I was a freshman and during the 1st quarter of my sophomore year”. Freshmen Samantha Lleras and Adrianna Radice also admit they have felt a slight twinge of senioritis already. Radice says, “I’m already tired of school and I’ve only been here 3 months! and Lleras adds, “I already think I have some senioritis, so I’ll definitely have it senior year.” Hang in there, underclassmen!

Some girls from the Class of 2016 already admit they’ve had senioritis since freshman year! Freshman year, Ruby Knopik took to Twitter to get out her frustrations of experiencing a lack of motivation!

Having senioritis as a freshmen #sodone 🙈

— ouch (@ru_kno) April 9, 2013

On a more serious note, Senioritis isn’t something that should be taken lightly among seniors. Everyone jokes about having it, but seniors should start taking action and preventing it from happening. Sara Hamon, the assistant dean of undergraduate studies at Florida State University, says, ““Your motivation at the end of your senior year is a pretty good indication in terms of your motivation for the next stage of your life”.

With that being said, dropping grades really could result in a college taking back your acceptance, so hopefully no seniors will have to experience that if they throw out this whole “senioritis” mentality!

Palumbo admits she’s had senioritis in the past, but, “Now I have realized that I really need to enjoy life. Memories are so valuable and it’s time to make them. Instead of just going through the day and waiting the 939 days it is to graduation, not that anyone is counting, seize the day and make memories that will last forever!” The Class of 2016 has accomplished many things during their four years at AHN, and hopefully “Senioritis” won’t stop them from keeping achieving their goals!