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

It is true. Senioritis is a real thing, and as the year of graduation has presented itself, I am starting to deal with random waves of emotion. Whether that be thinking about exam finals, prom dresses, grad party locations, my graduation ceremony, scholarship deadlines and more, all of which are happening within the next five and a half months.

Senioritis can be seen as a light-hearted and humorous topic throughout every student’s graduation year, but College Board addresses the realistic problem that “Every year, colleges rescind offers of admission, put students on academic probation, [and can] alter financial aid packages due to ‘senioritis.’” So although students may be “committed” to a school, they need to continue their academic career to maintain these beneficial resources. Colleges will not receive final grades until June or July, so students may not learn of a revoked admission until July or August. This can be especially hard when students have given up their spots at other colleges and now have few options left due to not maintaining their academics.

Although showing up to class and continuing to have a work ethic in academics may seem unamusing to second-semester seniors, The National Association for College Admission Counseling highlights how difficult the freshman year of college can be, even for those students who have maintained stellar study and attendance habits. However, those who haven’t may experience a much more difficult transition. 

So yes, I get it. I can already feel eyes rolling through the screen at the fact that it may be easier said than done. But by continuing to maintain a challenging course load and proper attendance, it will make the senior experience a lot more enjoyable, especially without having to worry about last-minute college rejections. We’ve worked the past 12 years to get accepted into the next chapter of our lives. So, let’s maintain our high school academic profiles for about five and a half more months and then it does not matter anymore. We are not lazy. We are just ready to finally be done.