As college decisions come through and students attempt to envision their life after high school, an infamous mental affliction looms over them: Senioritis.
Senioritis in its informal definition is the decline of academic performance due to a lack of motivation and focus. With three and a half years of high school under their belt, many seniors have been worn out by rigorous course loads and school activities. Thus, it can be easy to lose large amounts of motivation to perform well after students define their plans for the next four years.
PV senior and president of the math club, Nikhil Saini speaks on senioritis. “I think senioritis is a real thing that kicks in senior year, especially after you get into college,” He said. “Personally it does not affect me that much because I have stayed locked in on a bunch of stuff like Science Bowl.”
This remark was followed by an elaboration as to why he thinks senioritis happens to others. “I think the main cause is a lack of things to do since people do a lot of stuff to get into college but when that is over they have nothing to do and burn out.”
Based on Saini’s comments, a clear reason for senioritis is revealed: if a student’s main reason for working hard academically is to build their resume for college applications, the conclusion of application season destroys that reason.
Is it possible, then, that people who don’t have a clear goal to keep working towards experience senioritis before senior year?
PV senior Levi Steele commented on his experience. “It’s not really affecting me because I feel like I’ve had senioritis all four years,” Steele said. “I have this mindset that my performance in high school is not the ultimate determinant of how successful I will be in life. Because of that, I’ve been pretty lazy all four years. The difference between my work ethic between fresh through junior and my senior year is pretty slim,” he shared.
Saini and Steele seem to be unaffected by senioritis, but this is not the same for many others. PV senior Vaibhav Gandikota shares his viewpoint: “I’ve started putting less effort into assignments, and I put off homework till the last minute. It hasn’t impacted my grades, but it definitely affects me in other ways. I usually enjoy school, but senioritis has made school become very painful. I can’t wait to graduate.”
Senioritis is a silly topic to some, and a more serious one to others. Its prevalence in Pleasant Valley is considerable, and its influence to vulnerable seniors undeniable.
