According to Degree Choices, 4 out of 5 students are affected by senioritis— a term used to describe the affliction of high school seniors with a lack of motivation to complete their school work. 

Similar to other high school students around the world, senioritis has quickly spread through Pleasant Valley students. Many seniors are eager to be done with their final year of high school, creating a lack of motivation and a build up of late work.

Teachers who have upper-class students can be put in tough situations that negatively affect the flow of learning, forcing teachers to change the way they teach.

One teacher who demonstrates how senioritis changes her teaching is the Pleasant Valley accounting teacher Rita Brown. “If students don’t understand how it applies to real life, they are going to zone out,” she said. 

Brown creates situations and real life examples to demonstrate how accounting and personal finance can appear in the students’ lives.

Senioritis has been affecting students for years and doesn’t fall on the teacher to fix. So, how can students solve the inevitable lack of motivation?

Though it is not necessarily avoidable, the effects of senioritis are able to be reduced. If students find motivation in the tedious tasks they are assigned, they will be able to diminish the procrastination they have as an effect of senioritis. 

Having a different attitude towards school work can improve students’ senioritis. Implementing behaviors like having an end goal, finding fun in the work and staying focused all work towards reducing procrastination in students.

Nathan Musal is a busy senior who is involved in wrestling and is enrolled in some of the hardest classes Pleasant Valley has to offer. His advice to future seniors is to, “set goals and try to prioritize those goals,” said Musal. Though he stays busy, he prioritizes his time, leading to his great academic success with an impressive 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 36 ACT score. 

Senior year has the greatest impact on students’ future and possible careers. It is crucial to stay focused, create goals and have fun to ensure that the effort that was endured through the past years was worth it.

Voices of the Valley, Episode #30: The Start of Senioritis

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