How to Survive Senioritis

“Senioritis – a crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as Graduation”  – Urban Dictionary

Whether you’re accepted early decision or still sitting back waiting for your acceptance letters, come mid-way through senior year, there’s a general consensus of just feeling “over it.” Senioritis has infected your being and it is wholly unavoidable. You just spent four years kicking butt in high school, taking a heavy courseload of honors classes and APs, leading multiple school clubs, being a three-season athlete. Let’s be real, a driving force behind much of what we do in high school is not for kicks and giggles; a HUGE part, whether you’ll admit it or not, is for your college applications. So now that you’ve been admitted to a college or the whole stressful college application process is over, you’re just sitting back and thinking, “what’s the point?”

December 15, 2006. I receive my early decision acceptance to Penn. From that moment on, I was senioritis’s willing prey. My alarm would go off for school and I’d turn it off and roll over back to bed, I slept through my AP Calculus exam, one of my final English essays I used 12.5 font and 2.2 spacing because stretching to 3 pages was going to be a struggle. Academically, I was just mentally checked out and beyond tired. I was still interested in my classes, but homework and assignments…not so much. My general lackadaisical attitude meant work less and play more and you know what, I felt like I deserved it. And I did! After enduring quite possibly one of the most stressful times of my young adult life, I deserved to relish in a little senioritis. And so do you! The issue at hand is finding a fine balance between taking a little R&R and totally succumbing to senioritis’s wicked ways. Here are some tips to help you enjoy your senioritis but still stay (kinda) productive:

1. Get rid of the “I’m over high school” attitude. Enjoy every moment of high school because while college is going to be the next great, fun phase of your life, balancing your college workload, activities, and social life can become just as stressful as your junior and senior years, if not more! And we all know after college, the real world sucks… So hang on to these golden years of still being “a kid” yet old enough to do cool things like drive and stay out late, because come next year, laundry, work-study, and shopping for your own groceries are all on you!

Enjoy the nuances of your high school! At my school, we had weird traditions like dance parties in the senior lounge and walking around like weirdos during Spirit Week. Enjoy the power, privilege, and prestige that comes with being a high school senior because in a few months, you’ll be right back down on the bottom of the totem pole! What’s it like being a college freshmen? It’s a litle bit awkward, making genuine friends can become stressful, and EVERYTHING is new which is exciting yet being constantly out of your comfort zone can get exhausting for some of us. So enjoy the comforts of your comfort zone while you can!

2. Keep your grades and attendance pretty decent. All seniors get threatened with the whole “if you don’t keep your grades up, colleges will rescind your offer” scare tactic. And while this can happen, it’s less popular than you think and usually reserved for serious cases where grades fall off dramatically or school absences increased substantially. However, many Admissions Offices do send out what’s informally called the “Fear of God” letter to students whose grades and absences are brought into question. No one wants to receive a letter from Big Brother reminding you that he’s still watching, so avoid that potential heart attack and just keep your grades up (Read more about “Fear of God” letters here).

Do your assignments and don’t miss huge chunks of school, simple as that. While you may not hand in your best work, at least take some pride and put in some effort in what you hand in. Also, be respectful to your teachers who still have to teach. Senior teachers, at least at my school, understood our senioritis and kept class time engaging while lessening our amount of homework and assignments, which was much appreciated! Given this, the least you can do is participate in class and not goof off or sleep.

3. Get excited about something new. There’s no point lying aimlessly in wait on your couch for college to start. Graduation is still months away and the summer isn’t going to tick away any faster. Sitting around watching TV during all your free time is just going to make the time feel that much slower. So while you’re sitting there putting your English paper off to the last minute, find something new and exciting to put your focus into or set a new goal! For those of you looking to drop some weight before freshman year, join a class or set a weight loss goal and start working towards it now! Always wanted to start a blog? This is the time! Finally do that thing you’ve always wanted to do for your own personal pleasure, not for a school assignment or for your college application, but something cool and fun and exciting just for you.

The best way to beat your senioritis is just to work with it! It’s inevitable and frustrating yet deserved and should be taken advantage of…to a productive extent. The key is to still live in the moment of your senior year glory days. You haven’t gotten to college yet, so there’s still school work to be done. And since the pressure of resume-building is over, enjoy your free-time doing things you actually want to do. Before you know it, you’ll be packing up and shipping out to a new school and new life to deal with the new challenges that come with freshman year.