How to stay motivated as a senior
Maria Carrillo senior leaving school early (Maya Ferrari,The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Maya Ferrari, Opinion Editor
For the class of 2025, it is the beginning of the fourth and dinal year of high school. Senior year brings a lot of exciting events, such as senior sunrise and our last few dances and football games. However, the senior year also brings something called senioritis. You have probably heard the word senioritis tossed around by high school students here and there, but you might need to learn what it entails.
Senioritis mainly signifies students' lack of motivation during their senior year of high school. This lack of motivation causes things such as procrastination and skipping classes. This issue has many causes, such as seniors feeling burnt out in their courses, as well as in their work, college, and family responsibilities. These lead to students needing to catch up in their courses. It is not uncommon either, as it affects most seniors, even those who seem academically alert. Maria Carrillo High School staff member Greg Boitos says he catches “10 or more students leaving during school hours every day,” mostly during advocacy. According to Boitos, these students are primarily seniors who are feeling overwhelmingly tired and unmotivated. Senior Ava Larson has been one of many here at Maria Carrillo who is already encountering senioritis. She explains how her “senioritis simply means the lack of excitement about school and seeing people. [She] mostly wants to stay at home.” Larson also states that it is not just the schoolwork and environment that keeps her from wanting to go to school; it is also the added stress of college applications and other responsibilities like work. With so much on their plates, seniors are bound to feel done with the four years of rigorous work and stress they have endured. Puma graduate Allison Tito, now at the University of California, Santa Barbara, pursuing track and field while majoring in psychology, highlights that she experienced senioritis that led to her skipping some classes. She explains that her senioritis came more near the end of the year, when she “already knew what the next four years of [her] life would look like, so it didn't feel necessary to try anymore.”
Although senioritis is talked about lightly, it can have terrible consequences. So, here are the best ways to avoid it:
1. Participate in the school activities that interest you: Going out to the school football games or dances can help seniors become more involved in the fun part of the school and will allow them to gain back motivation for going to school in the first place.
2. Senior Skip Days: Never pass up a free excuse to skip classes. " Not only will it bond the senior class,” says Tito, “but it will also give seniors a break from school and seeing people they don't want to see.” Senior skip days also help remedy part of the feeling of disinterest that crowds senior minds. However, always stay aware of when teachers are giving out tests/quizzes to remain mindful of the days that are worth skipping. Some teachers even assign tests on senior skip days that you can not remake, so it is good to stay conscious of the consequences of skipping class.
3. Think about your future: It is essential to keep your future in mind so that when thinking about skipping a homework assignment or day of school, you consider long-term choices. Larson explains that “a fear of failure is what mostly keeps {her} on track” because she knows that to live out the future she dreams of, she still has to work hard in school.
4. Focus less on busywork: Tito explains how she found it most effective to spend most of her energy on her AP courses within the mass of homework she received during her senior year. This means using your energy and motivation wisely on something other than busy work and using it for whatever matters most or interests you most.
Feeling burnt out during your last year of high school is entirely normal. If you're a senior and you think you are experiencing senioritis, try some of these new tips and tricks to avoid the possible consequences. Tito explains how “being a senior is extremely difficult because of both the physical and mental strains, but as long as you maintain a good balance between your academic and social lives, then senior year will be the most rewarding year of high school.”