Senioritis: The Horrid Days of November

Senioritis: (n) A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors.
Symptoms include:
Extreme fatigue
Laziness
Insomnia
Lack of motivation
Muscle soreness
Procrastination

0 Ability to get schoolwork done!!

It’s well-known that seniors are up for, and are already experiencing, extreme stress; an annual illness known as “Senioritis”. With college applications creeping close, hand-in-hand with adulthood, it’s clear that life intends to get a whole lot harder for the rest of 2022. 

What is senioritis? It’s best described as a disease or sickness, non-contagious, that causes educational progression (in senior year) to stop. Imagine this: It’s your senior year of high school and you’re taking classes from 7:40 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon (Much later with after-school clubs and activities). You’ve got tons of class assignments and major deadlines approaching, and tests just the next morning. The problem is, you can’t find the motivation to work. Next thing you know, you’re battling sleep as you try making up for all the procrastination. It’ll hit you before you even see it coming. In fact, I was already suffering from senioritis before I even knew what it was, and I’m afraid to say that it’s the same case for countless other teenagers in their last year of high school. 

I’ve created a survey, asking the DAA seniors of ‘23 about how they’re feeling during the month of November. I’ve found that 89% of all responders are suffering from senioritis. 100% of these students are experiencing extreme procrastination, 87.5% reported lack of motivation, and 75% goes to stress and difficulty meeting deadlines. Other symptoms that were considered were extreme fatigue, insomnia, and sadness. 

There are so many, different causes of senioritis, some of which being:

• Boredom: We’ve been in this cycle for more than 6 hours a day, 180 days a year, for 15 continuous years. The cycle is getting repetitive and we need a change. 
• Anticipation for the future: Living alone, making our own money, etc. are all thoughts that constantly gallop and bounce around in our brains. This sense of anticipation can make it really difficult to focus on school. 
• All-or-nothing thinking: “It’s our last year of school, we should be enjoying ourselves!” is one of the most common phrases people use to slack off. While the “YOLO” mindset can be a result of senioritis, it could also be a cause. 

Treatment:

1. Graduation. 
2. An excessive amount of sleep post-graduation.

In real talk, graduation isn’t till June 2023. Here are some measures I’ll be taking to beat senioritis till then:

• Follow a schedule: Doing this would not only break the boring, repetitive cycle of working and submitting, but it would also allow me to have some time to rest. That way, I won’t really have the room to think, “I’m too tired to work” and would have a steady balance of both working and relaxing.
• Prioritize/Focus on self-care: On the note of the previous point, mental and physical self-care would greatly rejuvenate my greatly worn-out, fatigued body. Of course, it’s still important to keep up with the workload, but taking a minute every once in a while to work out or sleep in is an extremely efficient healing technique. 
• Maintain a positive attitude: Thinking of schoolwork as a chore is a lot more burdensome than viewing it as something beneficial. Completing work now will make life a lot easier later on; I’ll have less to do when I’m simply continuing what I’ve started.  I’ll take away many skills that will aid me in future opportunities, and I’ll have a healthier, steadier routine that’ll lead to a fast-track to an easier time.

Although a good handful of the Class of ‘23 Seniors are gasping for freedom in a wild torrent of grief and hassle, it’s incredibly important to acknowledge the accomplishments we’ve made thus far. There’s always a rainbow after the rain and we must continue to combat the downpour of deadlines for just a few months longer. Best of luck with the rest of the year, seniors of ‘23! 🙂