Senioritis is a disease that eventually hits almost every senior at Groves, and in other high schools across the country. The infamous “disease” is notorious for feeding off seniors’ lack of motivation after being through four years of high school and knowing they’re about to graduate. The intense stress that comes from deciding what you will be doing after high school, combined with the tedious class assignments you still have to focus on, is overwhelming for many.
After interviewing Groves’ senior Liberty Chastain, I got inside info on how she thinks this senioritis is affecting herself and the other seniors around her.
“I think the senior slump happens mainly because, in less than a year, all the seniors are going to be in the real world. We’re not going to be in high school, which makes it really draining to come to school every day,” Chastain said. The anticipation of leaving high school weighs on many, as we have just gotten through the peak frenzy of college application season, and acceptances are rolling through. There may seem no point in doing well in school. The phrase “finish strong” loses its weight when you are so close to crossing the threshold. The senior slump is a headspace that makes turning in the smallest assignments seem like the hardest thing in the world. Waking up at 6 am feels like a chore. Keeping an A in every class may seem like a far-away concept.
“Some of the information that we learn just feels unnecessary, doing tedious assignments and stuff like that, and most of these assignments are not helping us in any way,” Chastain said. While the senior slump may feel like a mystery for all of the underclassmen reading this, it feels just as unreal to me and the seniors I know. The burnt out senior I stare at in the mirror, every morning at 6:30, is nothing like the hardworking-academic, validation-hungry junior I knew myself to be last year. The hours and hours seniors have poured into homework, and clubs, and sports and, more recently, college applications and scholarships are almost over— and thank goodness they are. While the daunting idea of rigorous college work is still in the back of our heads, the idea of being free from old life and moving into our new ones takes precedence.
In total, there are 35,827 tiktok videos under the hashtags “senioritis” and “senior slump,” with videos detailing the fall of seniors’ motivation from junior year. The videos posted by high school seniors show a less glamorous side to the year of high school, some saying that school is the most tiring part of their days. This contrasts the idea that most underclassmen have of their senior year, which includes getting into your dream school, going out with friends all the time and blowing off classes. While some seniors may have all of those things in their lives, they may still experience a senior slump.
Senioritis is truly something you will never be able to fully understand, until you are a senior. As I said in the beginning, senioritis is, at some point, usually contracted by all seniors. However, it’s not something that you will always have. There are treatments, like making sure to hangout with your friends and family, focusing on the positive things in your life and letting go of all the things you can’t control. To every senior reading this: make sure to recognize all the accomplishments you’ve made over these four years, academic or not. Give yourself the grace you know you deserve. Keep going, you’re almost there.
