Senioritis sounds like a disease you could catch in an assisted living home for old people. This isn’t necessarily too far off – just knock the age down about 55 years and turn the retirement home into highschool. Oh and technically it’s not a real illness even though lots of students would disagree. 

Usually towards the end of senior year, students are less motivated and tend to give up on their grades and classes. Absences increase and consequences seem far off. However some students experience symptoms early on. 

At this point in high school there doesn’t seem to be much else for seniors to learn. We have heard the same things all year long – your senior year still matters. Does it though? I have taken the same PE classes for the past 4 years. Why are we taking physical education for an hour and a half when we could be working to pay for our futures? 

Seniors are expected to take classes worth a total of 5.5 credits unless our principal approves a lesser amount (case to case). Lots of seniors think there are no more classes worth their time.

Many student athletes have already received acceptance to their top colleges and have scholarships on top of that. Other than student athletes, some seniors have taken the early action or early decision route. They have already been given the golden opportunity of success before ever even graduating. These students have stronger cases of senioritis. They feel there is no purpose of attending classes unless said classes relate directly to their intended major. 

Here is what some of my peers had to say:

Carter Fink who has been accepted into Niagara University to play division 1 baseball and major in biology, states that his case of senioritis is starting to kick in. He talked about in terms of effort, his acceptance has decreased the pressure he feels. However he is still an outstanding student. 

Payton Giliforte who was accepted into SUNY Geneseo majoring in psychology, confirms her case of senioritis has definitely worsened since her acceptance. She claims to feel less motivated during school. 

Maryn Savage was accepted to Binghamton University at the end of October. She believes since then, her stress levels have significantly decreased. She doesn’t believe that her acceptance has affected her case of senioritis. She is just ready to go to college. 

Ava Reffelt has decided to take a gap year and look for internships around her future career in fashion merchandising. She claims there are no classes at Victor that could benefit her in this area besides some art classes that inspire creativity. 

Senioritis has been around for a long time and isn’t going away anytime soon. As the year continues on it will be interesting to see how many of the seniors catch a case of it.