Are you a senior feeling tired? Unmotivated? Lazy? If you said yes, then welcome to senioritis! As the year progresses, many seniors at Wayne Hills have started to relate to this word and are losing their drive to participate in academic and extracurricular activities. Priorities have shifted from focusing on school to focusing on which college to commit to and activities such as prom and fashion show and many seniors just don’t care anymore. 

Among these seniors is Geena Kim. Geena said “I’m definitely feeling the senioritis. I’ve heard people talking about it in prior years, and it definitely is real. I didn’t realize how hard it is, but it hits you out of nowhere. I think after I got accepted into most of my colleges is when it hit me. I kind of just checked out and I’d rather sleep in than be here.” After being accepted into over four schools already, Kim is finding it hard to stay motivated, especially after feeling blindsided by the sudden effects of senioritis. 

Senior Evan Grant feels similarly, describing the exhaustion he feels in his final year of high school and also expressing his concerns about the workload. Evan said, “ Senioritis to me is just the worst. I love the freedom I had in choosing my classes this year, but I definitely feel more tired and burnt out than ever before. I hope the workload decreases as the year goes on because I really am losing motivation.”  

He went on to even offer the junior class a helpful piece of advice saying, “I would tell juniors to try and get as much of their college stuff done as possible during the summer. Having to apply to schools can be a stressful time, especially when also balancing school work.” 

Some seniors are feeling the effects of senioritis but not to the same degree as other students. Senior Erin Durot, said  “I am ready to have a more relaxed, and less structured schedule for college. This way I have more time to focus on school work, and relax.” She is ready to move on from high school and experience a more independent academic lifestyle. 

While many students are feeling the impact senioritis has, others don’t buy it.

“Senioritis is not real. it is all in your head, you have to have that mindset to push through your school work, get up at wee hours of the morning, and succeed in life.  I’m proud to say that I am an academic weapon for them, other students are finding ways to stay motivated,” senior Kaitlyn Cooper said “I am excited about the fashion show and prom and project graduation, it definitely helps keep up my motivation to keep working on my school work. It is fairly rewarding to have these senior events after working so hard and I feel especially lucky, considering COVID, that we have the opportunity to celebrate our senior year.” Kaitlyn’s more positive outlook on senior year is helping her keep her performance high. She utilizes activities seniors have coming up towards the end of the year as motivation to work hard. 

Similar to Kaitlyn, senior Bradley Galambos focuses on his mindset to combat the impact that senioritis has on students.  Bradley said “senioritis is not real, it is all in your head, you have to have that mindset to push through your school work, get up in the wee hours of the morning, and succeed in life.  I’m proud to say that I am an academic weapon.” Believing that senioritis is a myth is what has kept Bradley motivated. He sticks to his routine and is pushing through the year successfully. 

Students at Wayne Hills sure do feel the senioritis. A few teachers have also noticed the lack of motivation from their students, but on the other hand Mrs. Cangialosi, surprisingly, has not noticed it yet. Mrs. Cangialosi said, “It’s heading our way. The senioritis is coming. I haven’t noticed it in my students yet, but I know it’s right around the corner.”

She has been teaching seniors for many years and she knows that when more and more students get accepted into their colleges the senioritis will kick in. It’s only a matter of time before she sees her students becoming more uninterested in class.

Overall, many students at Wayne Hills are feeling senioritis. Their motivation is lacking and they are only waiting for one thing- getting into college. Once they commit they are set. Seniors need to think of all the positives and fun things coming up. Having something to look forward to can spark the motivation that they are missing and make them continue to work harder. Even though students are lacking the motivation, they need to finish out the year strong here at Wayne Hills.