Is senioritis real or just an excuse to be lazy?

You made it! It’s finally your senior year of high school. This year you’ll get to graduate and leave the cluster of people handpicked to be your classmates before your freshman year. 

You’re now in the home stretch. College applications are being sent in, letters of recommendation are being written, and you’re finishing the last of your required classes. You don’t understand how it happened so quickly, but you feel the anticipation of what’s coming next. 

Although all of this might sound great, there is one problem. You can’t bring yourself to do anything. Missing assignments pile up, you’re getting to school late, and you stop paying attention in class. These are all symptoms of an annual pattern called Senioritis.

An article from tradeschools.net discusses the symptoms and causes of senioritis. They said, “It  is generally characterized by apathy, low motivation, and a tendency to shrug off responsibilities like going to class, doing homework, or studying for tests. But it is not a recognized medical condition or mental health disorder. Some people think that senioritis is a convenient, made-up excuse for laziness.”

It seems as though most seniors can relate to this feeling. We’ve reached our final year of mandated school, so we are in the final stages, and that excitement for the end makes it very hard to focus. 

Senior Lizzette Rodriguez shared her thoughts on the topic.

“It’s real. Especially if you have a job or if you have other responsibilities outside of school that can put a hindrance on you advancing more and wanting to have the motivation to do college applications and work on your grades,” she said. 

Ashley Wallis, a writer from Southern New Hampshire University wrote an article titled “What is Senioritis and is There a Cure?”, which validated senioritis as a real thing people go through. It basically says that senioritis is characterized by the relief that we’re almost at the end of our high school days, and that lots of students have felt the loss of motivation during their final years in school. 

This sudden wave of lethargy affects students differently. Some students experience it, and some don’t. There has been debate on whether or not senioritis is real and not just an excuse for laziness. 

Senior Samantha Esparza expressed her thoughts on the validity of senioritis.

She said, “I think it can be a mix of both (real or fake). You do a lot your senior year so yes, you do feel senioritis but it can also be a mix of procrastination to avoid doing work. The first couple months of school, I started to feel it, but I just told myself ‘No!’ and it went away.”

Senior Dani De La Cruz talked about how senioritis is bad in the moment, but it feels like nothing once you get through it. 

They said, “In the moment, it’s there. You can feel it every single day. But once you’re done with it, you forget how it feels. I kind of wish it was taken more seriously. Instead of just saying, ‘You can do it!’ I wish there was something else that could be done.” 

CollegeData is normally a website that assists students in finding good colleges, but what I found interesting is that they have an article titled “DON’T CATCH SENIORITIS!” This article has helpful tips on how to combat senioritis. 

 The most interesting way to combat senioritis is getting a part-time job. This is to ensure that future college students can build the ability to create a good school-work-life balance.

Overall, our senior year has been completing our senior exit portfolios and submitting college applications. It’s been a struggle for all seniors here at Middle College and of course at other high schools. However, it’s just one step towards the real world. While saying “You can do it!” may not be good enough, these months of stress will fly by before anyone knows it, and seniors can enjoy the breeze for the rest of the year.