Senioritis Epidemic?

January 19, 2012

A case of senioritis

As the 2^nd semester begins, many seniors start to catch senioritis. The major symptom of senioritis is a lack of motivation to do work in school. Many students with senioritis will decide to not do homework, not to attend classes, or, in milder cases, just slack off.

Even the yearbook pokes fun at the senioritis epidemic. In senior advisories at the start of the year, seniors must decide the superlatives for their class for a section in the yearbook called “Senior Superlatives.” In the earliest months of the senior year, the seniors identify a girl and a boy from the class who they think has, or will have, the worse case of senioritis

In the spring as the senior class begins to hear from their colleges and start to count down the days until graduation, senioritis is in full swing. Because of this counting down, the seniors begin to get excited and start to lose the motivation to work. Since they are losing the motivation to work, grades and participation begin to slip. This slippage has consequences, however. Colleges continue to check the students’ grades throughout the school year. In order to maintain acceptances to schools, the seniors need to continue to work hard and keep their grades up.

In order to help prevent senioritis, teachers try to motivate students to continue to work hard in class. One strategy is to tempt the seniors with the promise of no final exam. If students maintain an 87% or above, they do not take the final exam. Although this rule does not include AP classes, many students continue to work hard to enjoy the no final exam benefit.

The next time you feel like hitting the snooze button for the tenth time, remember that if you can just get out of bed and engage in class, you will be rewarded for all of your hard work. Even though it is tempting to slack off, we must continue to resist the urge. We still have a ways to go before graduation. Keep up the good work, seniors!