Senioritis at Carrillo
Senior Alexander Ong exhausted in class (Parece Morovat, The Puma Prensa)
By Parece Morovat, business manager
By the end of the four year trudge through high school, many of Maria Carrillo High School’s class of 2023 seniors have become plagued with senioritis: feelings of burnout that lead to a decline in academic performance. Although the levels vary depending on the person, a majority of seniors can sympathize over the lack of motivation in prioritizing school work at the end of this long journey of keeping consistent.
Senior Charles Fields says how much easier it has gotten to let loose and spend little effort in managing school work as a senior as opposed to his earlier years of highschool. He expresses that school work felt a lot more complex and challenging up until the end of his junior year. Flashing forward to the second semester of his senior year, Fields believes that school primarily consists of completing loads of “busy work.” He says he “can get by just fine” by catching up with a “good month’s worth of learning in reviewing slideshows and lectures for an hour or two.” Meanwhile, the additional pressure of stressors in his personal life leaves him wondering, “Why should I waste time when I can do it at my own faster pace, saving valuable time and energy?” Furthermore, with college decisions rolling in and with graduation credits fulfilled, he wonders “What’s the point?” Instead, Fields would rather truly enjoy what is left of his final semester in high school by making lasting memories with his friends and peers. He doubts that there will be any long-term consequences if he continues to prioritize his social life, work, and his family.
Senior Sophia Peschkin finds comfort in her home, a safe space from the stresses of school, but says that this feeds into an especially severe senioritis diagnosis. Looking back on the past few years, she has noticed how the trend ofher leaving class early here and there back in her sophomore year progressively led into not attending entire school days a couple times a week in her senior year. Similar to Fields, she finds that various factors contribute to these high levels of burnout and expands on how specifically workload, grades, and peer relationships heavily impact her relationship with school. Mental health stands out at the forefront as being a key component in fueling her struggle with senioritis. She finds it difficult to “get through the day staying focused” when all she is “looking forward to is getting to relax and rest.” Depending on “how well everything is going that week,” she will determine whether or not she goes to class. Peschkin expresses how since she is right about to cross the finish line, she is exhausted in persevering to put in the same effort she had to put in prior to this point. Furthermore, similar to Fields, now that she has all of her credits completed and college applications sent in, “putting high amounts of effort doesn’t really matter anymore as much as it used to.”
From a teacher perspective, Trevor Brady, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, and Leadership teacher, stresses on how crucial it is to maintain a balance between putting in the effort to finish strong academically and spending time to enjoy senior year. He understands that although there is fatigue at the end of this four year long chapter, it is important to continue to work to the best of one’s ability in all things one’s involved in. He is “confident that all teachers want students to be successful moving forward after high school and will support them as best they can in pushing them towards the finish line.” However, it is really up to the individual to find it in themselves to act out on this growth mindset of “finishing strong.”
Looking onward, past high school, Peschkin and Fields maintain that whether burnout persists depends on a person’s situation and mental state. Peschkin imagines experiencing “relief when she graduates” but after summer passes to the start of her fall semester, “it will probably be like highschool all over again without the shelter and worries of parents watching grades closely.” Although it is not as easy as being able to flip that switch from full fledge burnout to being as productive as possible going into college and the real world, seniors can persevere and push themselves as best as they can to accomplish their responsibilities and enjoy their social lives in their lives beyond high school.