As the second semester rolls around, seniors are beginning to feel the symptoms of senioritis: missing assignments, decreased motivation, and the urge to do anything but schoolwork. Assignments that once seemed manageable now feel impossible, motivation disappears overnight, and the countdown to graduation becomes the only thing keeping us going.
People call it senioritis, often brushing it off as laziness. But it’s much more than that. It’s the exhaustion, shifting priorities, and the mental weight of preparing for the next years of our lives.
For years, we’ve been told that every assignment, every test, and every extracurricular matters. The pressure to maintain high grades, especially during junior year for college applications, leaves students exhausted by the time senior year arrives.
On top of that, college decisions change everything. For most of high school, our future felt uncertain, but now the path ahead is finally clear. Once those acceptance letters come in, the urgency to keep up with every assignment starts to disappear. It’s not that we don’t care, but it’s that we’re finally able to breathe.
Then there’s the reality that high school is almost over. We’re running out of time to spend with our friends, go to school events, and enjoy the things that won’t matter once we leave. After years of prioritizing academics, many of us are realizing that we don’t want to look back on high school and only remember the stress. So we let ourselves enjoy it a little more. And that could mean skipping an assignment or two in favor of making memories.
But while senioritis is understandable, it can also be dangerous. One skipped assignment turns into three, then five, and before you know it, you’re panicking over whether you’ll actually graduate on time. The challenge isn’t avoiding senioritis completely, but figuring out how to manage it. Find small ways to stay accountable, or reward yourself for finishing work. It’s also important to set reminders because honestly, we’re all forgetting about due dates at this point.
Senioritis isn’t just an excuse to slack off. It’s a natural reaction to years of hard work. And honestly, we deserve a little break. But at the same time, we’ve made it this far, and there’s no point in giving up now. We’re almost at the end, so hang on a little longer!
