I happen to be self diagnosed, but I’m afraid I’ve got it bad. A more serious definition of the phenomenon is “A supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterised by a decline in motivation or performance” (Oxford English Dictionary). I’ve watched this crippling disease infect so many people that I care about. They trudge through the hallways like zombies paying no mind to the time that’s passing by. Upon catching senioritis, these students no longer feel motivated by the light at the end of the tunnel that is their diploma. In reality, a diploma is the only cure to this plague we call senioritis.
Senioritis is diminishing grades. With this disease weighing on many seniors, they tend to lose focus on their grades. How could anyone expect them to be concerned with their math homework when they have such a treacherous sickness to deal with? Sure the A’s turn into B’s, and maybe the B’s even turn into C’s. But who has the motivation to bring them back up? Another common side effect is not completing assignments. A decline in effort is a major side effect of senioritis. The reason for the decline could be because seniors begin to realize that some or most of the classes they’re taking won’t matter in the long run. Since the beginning of each individual’s high school career, school is one of the main focuses in the teenagers life for 4 whole years. High school is all that we seniors have known. The impending knowledge of the drastic change that occurs after we graduate can make the work a student is doing while still in high school feel pointless and miniscule. How important can math really be anyway?
Senioritis is excessive absences. Another side effect of this disease is a feeling of not wanting to go to school at all. As the year drags on it can become harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning. The classes feel pointless. The work begins to feel like busy work. A lot of students don’t have many consequences when they miss school. That just makes it easier to give in to the little voice in your head telling you to skip class. The only thing that inspires some of the disease stricken students to attend class is to socialize with their other senioritis infected classmates. This could be how this horrible infection spreads.
Senioritis is laziness. The student most likely has the ability to complete assignments and do well, but it’s easier to not put in effort. No matter how hard a student tries, if they are infected with senioritis, it is impossible for them to get their homework done until the last minute. Senioritis sends one’s motivation plummeting and their procrastination levels go through the roof! How are we supposed to remember when assignments are due when we are troubled with this plague? When infected with senioritis, messages are sent to your brain that block out any important information that is crucial to your education. Things like forgetting due dates for assignments, accidentally leaving your lunch at home, and forgetting to get up early to shower in the morning become nearly everyday occurrences. It can be scary to be experiencing this selective amnesia at such a young age. This is a difficult time for the diseased seniors. So please, if possible, allow the senioritis carriers to mourn the loss of their memory in these dark times.
Senioritis is irritability. Everyone is expecting too much and the students have no motivation to do any of it! How can the non diseased not understand? When experiencing this affliction, people tend to become irritable. A student may have gone to school with their peers for the entirety of their high school career. But, as graduation approaches, they often find themselves unable to hide the disdain they feel toward their annoying classmates. Senioritis victims usually experiences a steady decline in their patience for many things. Whether it be school work, classmates, teachers, or even their parents. When many become seniors, it’s goodbye patience and hello senioritis! An additional side effect of this ailment is loss of interest in physical appearance and/or hygiene.
Freshman year, one may have woken up at 6 am just to make sure they have the right outfit picked out and their hair is styled just right. The infected seniors, however, have lost the motivation to put effort into their appearance. The sweatpants and hoodie look is senioritis couture. Hygiene also does not take top priority. Sure the senior could take a shower, but they’d rather get some extra sleep instead. They even might forget to brush their teeth occasionally. A senioritis victim that hasn’t showered in three days? It’s more likely than one might think.
Don’t get me wrong, not everyone experiences the same side effects. Each person has their own unique side effects as well as some of the common ones listed. Senioritis affects everyone a little differently, but each case is extremely serious nonetheless. The only real cure to senioritis is to graduate and get a diploma. This phenomenon affects millions across the world every year. To pull through this affliction, seniors need to focus on the big picture, which is graduation, rather than focusing on the seconds slowly passing by in math class.
