It’s that time of year where school seems to be coming in second on the list of priorities. Christmas shopping is in full swing and vacations are right around the corner. It’s no wonder students are preoccupied with more entertaining thoughts rather than worrying about that math test sixth period. For seniors however, the distraction is heightened by that well known disease every twelfth grader suffers from at one point or another.

High School Myth #2:

Senioritis is all in your head.

     Most adults think that senioritis is simply an excuse for being lazy. I myself thought I was suffering from it sophomore year when I would get fed up with my work. But nothing could have prepared me for a full fledged exposure to this highly contagious disease.

     After three long grueling years of the same routine, most seniors are itching to get out of this place. Seeing the same people and generally taking the same classes gets excruciatingly boring. Tensions start growing between groups of friends and sometimes friendships end over pettiness. It’s not the friends fault, it’s just human nature. For some reason, senior year seems to amplify the little traits of others that can drive you crazy after a while. It also seems to be a time when we are truly beginning to figure out who we are as people and sometimes those characteristics don’t match up with others. The fact that everyone’s attitude is completely apathetic doesn’t help matters. I remember my sophomore and junior year, I would be at school between 8:00 and 8:15 every day for no reason; it was just a habit. This year, I’m lucky if I make it into class by the tardy bell. Even though my alarm clock goes off at 7:30 every morning, I continually hit the snooze button until around 8:20 then force myself to get up. In the past, if I was still at my house at that time, I would be in a complete panic. This year, I lethargically move around my room until I absolutely have to leave unless I want another tardy.

     For a while, I thought this behavior was completely my own fault. Then I started talking to my friends about it, and realized that they were all having the same feelings. We all agreed that doing homework was just out of the question and studying was a foreign concept. If I ever do have homework, I usually just do it in the class beforehand and am able to completely finish it. For most of my classes in the past, this was not a possibility. Between physics packets, chemistry labs, statistics reviews and history projects, outside of school work was mandatory if I wanted to finish all that I had to do. I have not cracked open a text book all year to actually apply myself and study. If I didn’t study junior year, my grades showed my lack of commitment which kept me motivated to take my classes seriously.

     The situation I seem to be in is only worsened by my lack of tough curriculum this year. I’m only taking one AP class and one ACC class. The rest are electives that are considered “easy” and while they can be fun, aren’t nearly diverse enough to hold my attention for an extended period of time. The class of 2011 and below should be thankful they are forced to take the 4×4 plan. At least by senior year you’ll have some classes that might make you do work and possibly force you to get up and face the day. Making senior year as easy as possible might sound appealing, but in reality, it is incredibly boring.  Senioritis will only have more of an impact if you have no serious classes to wake up and go to.

     So for all those skeptics out there that say senioritis either affects every one or is simply in your head, I am here to tell you that you are dead wrong.  Most seniors would agree with me. I know people who have exact countdowns, to the day, of how many more times we have to wake up and walk these halls. To avoid this dreaded illness, my advice would be to try and challenge yourself senior year. Yes, it’s supposed to be your year to slack off, but seriously, I’ve made it last ten times longer with my lack of challenging courses. Plus your readiness for college will probably be greater than mine. Next year when I’m freaking out about my work load, I’ll be cursing myself even more for my slacker mentality. Do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake. Senioritis is the worst disease to catch in high school because its only cure is graduation and that seems like a long way away.