Senioritis.
As a freshman, I’d never even heard of that made up word. As a sophomore, I knew what it was, the word floating around the halls. 
As a junior, it began to creep up on me, a subtle foreshadowing if you will. By the time senior year came around… it hit me like a brick.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, senioritis is “a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance.”
According to a more reliable source, Urban Dictionary, senioritis is “a disease affecting mostly high school seniors” whose symptoms include:
– “laziness”
– “lack of motivation”
– “excessive absences in school”
– “putting off assignments till the very last minute (more than usual)”
– “feeling of hopelessness”
– “thoughts of giving up”
– “feelings of not caring if you graduate or not”
– “STRESS a lot of stress”
– “more stress”
– “constant tired feeling”
– “irritable about everything”
– “panic feeling”
It seems as though the only cure for this deadly disease is to either graduate or drop out. And I think we all know the better option (hint: the correct answer is to graduate). While (do not quote me on any of this) it is ok to skip a class every now and then to have lunch with your friends, don’t let it become a habit and most importantly, don’t let your grades slip. A common misconception among seniors is that second semester grades don’t matter, but sorry to burst your bubble, most colleges still check senior transcripts and they do have the option of revoking your acceptance if it gets bad enough.
However, when you inevitably do start to skip classes, don’t waste your time. Despite how cliche it sounds, senior year does go by fast and you want to do everything you can to make the most of your time and create memories with your friends. That’s why I’ve created this totally authorized and professional list of fun things to do when you’re overcome by your “condition”:
- go get some ice cream – the farther the shop the better the ice cream and the experience
- take a nap to recover from your “illness” – highly highly recommend.
- go get food and make a mukbang – trust
- lay in the sun – lake day lake day lake day
- study for a test or something – I’ve found the library to be a very good place for this
- go see a movie – especially if you have back-to-back off periods
With all of this being said, make sure you don’t let senioritis ruin your life. Still go to class enough to ace the tests. Do your homework even though it seems totally pointless. Have fun. Enjoy your last year of high school ever.
And a quick message to the juniors: We know you don’t want to go to class. That doesn’t matter. You still have to keep your grades high and attendance good. Push through the worst year of high school and you’ll be rewarded for your hard work during senior year. You got this!
