When the bell rings at 7:30 am, the halls aren’t filled with seniors running to classes like they used to be; their not as rushed as they once were at the start of the school year. Instead, seniors move with purpose – eager to make the most of their last year in highschool. Senior start the year very strong and determined to stay on top of all their work and making sure that this is there year to succeed has time goes by the determination goes away.
“In the mornings I do the slow walk to class because its just one more day before I get to graduate,” said Zoe Ruggiero, a senior at Morgan. “ I walk into class late everyday with my Dunkin and my donut to make my day more bearable…. Once I committed to southern, my motivation left on every class but the one class I need to graduate.“
Often joked about as simple laziness, or procrastination, senioritis is more than just a senior not wanting to do their work, its the gradual loss of motivation that effects how seniors go about approaching school, responsibilities, and even their future. What starts as excitement for their final year of high school, can quickly become the most exhausting and disconnecting part of their lives. Psychologists say that 68% of high school seniors report decreased motivation in their final semester due to senioritis, and 82% of graduating seniors admit to skipping classes more frequently.
For many seniors the change begins once college applications are submitted and the future plans are set. The pressure that once pushed them to be succeeded finally disappears.
“I used to care about every grade,” said, senior, Alyssa Newman. “Now it just feels like I’m counting down the days until graduation.”
This mindset doesn’t just effect academics, it impacts seniors’ daily lives. Seniors struggling with senioritis often arrive late to school, skip assignments, even the simplest ones, or lose interest in activities they once enjoyed.research shows that80% of high school seniors, which frequently leads to increased tardiness in Connecticut alone.
“ i quit the Morgan Cheer team my senior year because it was too much stress on me trying to balance school,college,work, and having friends it was too much for a sport. I love the sport my whole life but coming back my senior year something just left different about it so i make the hard choice with my family to quit to be able to focus on my future. A senior girl at morgan said
There’s also a deeper side of senioritis that is often goes unnoticed. Besides the lack of motivation there is often stress, uncertainty, or even fear about the unknown of their future. Whether students are heading to college or going straight into the work force, there’s still tremendous stress that follows both paths.
“My senioritis started the day I committed to my college,” said senior Reagan Bushnell said “Senioritis effects me in my everyday life because i feel like i don’t need to try but in reality i need to still try my best and get good grades to be able to graduate the strongest i can. Without good grades they are able to take away my recruitment for dance”. College recruitments are a big thing something that’s not easy to get and when you start failing all your classes or some of them they have the right as a college to pull your recruitment away. A college can pull it away 42% of schools will pull a student from either a scholarship or a recruitment if your grades slope, which is why its important for seniors to keep working till the end of the year to ensure there spot.
Teachers see the effects of it firsthand. Participation drops. Effort declines. But many teachers understand that its not about students “giving up,” its about seniors reaching the end of this long four year demanding journey. Many teachers understand the feeling because every have went through it during there high school years no matter how long ago it was.
“Yeh, it effects my class – there’s no cure for the itis [senioritis]; there’s no vaccine for it. It comes seasonally every May. Sometimes it comes earlier,” said Mr. Richetelli.
Although Richetelli understands, he admits it can complicate the end of the year. “Seniors just have this illusion that schools over, but we still have like a month left, or two… Ive noticed that the quality of work crashes – which as a teacher makes my job in some ways easier, cause its pretty easy to give a zero. But at the same time, it makes my job harder because then all these seniors come to me wanting to redo their projects. And then I have to make the choice of do I let them redo it or not. If I do let them redo it, then I gotta go back in and then regrade them. But there is no cure for it it happens every year.”
As graduation approaches, seniors stand on the edge of a major life change. Senioritis reflects that moment of in between, no longer fully connected to high school but not yet started on the new journey that’s ahead of you. As the clock runs out till graduation, one thing stays clear; motivation is lost, yes, but memories a senior has created will last a lifetime.
“To the senior class, my main message to you is finish strong. Its important to keep going. It is the last part of this marathon. So keep in mind the legacy you leave is the last decision oftentimes, so we want to make it a good one. Both being with your teachers, as well as myself and Mr.Luther, we care about you. We are proud of all of you, and we are honored to have watched all of you grow up and become the beautiful people you are today. My last thing to say is avoid listening to that inner voice saying, ‘I don’t care anymore. I give up.’ Don’t listen to it, finish strong guys,” closed Mrs. Hagness, principal here at Morgan.