What is senioritis?
The acceptance letters are in, the transcript is mostly complete and now: What does it matter? This is the thought of many seniors. Skipping classes, lower grades and missing work are often attributed to senioritis. Senioritis is a common term for the lack of motivation, mostly seen as the year is coming to the end in the second semester of school. Colleges and high schools have seen this for a long time and Durango High School is no exception. DHS student Ava Herron told us in a recent interview, that it has ‘consumed her life’, highlighting how greatly it can affect students. Kids vary from letting a grade drop a little to asking themselves if they will even graduate. The finish line is so close, but sometimes motivation is lost.
What causes loss of motivation for seniors?
College is coming closer and students see those acceptance letters come in, maybe even getting into their top schools, then everything comes to a grinding halt. Their college doesn’t want them anymore, all because they slacked off and let their second semester grades slip. According to the current senior adviser at DHS, Ty Flom, this is a very real consequence of senioritis.
Students have already gotten accepted to college so they don’t feel like the rest of high school matters anymore and are already moving onto the next chapter of their life. Even high-achieving students like McKenzie Hayden says that she has already been admitted to college and has found that she is losing her motivation to go to school.
Inconvenient scheduling can also make it difficult to go to school. Senior Cully Feeny experienced this, his schedule this semester making it hard to find the motivation to go to school with a free fifth and sixth period, but a class during seventh.
Sometimes even the growing understanding of the world can open up students’ eyes and make them sort out their priorities, some of which exclude the formative and busy work that we see in a classroom, causing seniors to work on only the big assignments and neglect the rest.
What can help support seniors?
Senioritis can have a hard impact on a student so it becomes increasingly important to support them in their school career. Some simple strategies to navigate senioritis are verbalizing your feelings and seeking help with school advisors and counselors. Weekly meetings can be set up with an adviser to check with them about goals, progress and the pathway ahead. It can help with communication, especially between a student and parent.
In addition, having another outlet like sports can help with your motivation. Hayden, senior at DHS, says that she is channeling her motivation into tennis, finding a different interest in school. According to senior Ben Ogden, having a good balance between school and life allows you to do what you enjoy while still maintaining school work. Senioritis is a difficult situation to navigate and simply remembering to work hard and finish strong is important.
“No regrets, don’t do something because of the way you feel right now or what somebody’s telling you right now, like be proud of yourself and be proud of your efforts all the way through, you know? So don’t sell yourself short,” Mr. Flom said in an interview. “Like, you gotta show up for yourself and show up for your future,” he added.
