The shrill cries of your alarm that you’ve snoozed through three times that morning finally brings you from the shimmering embers of dreamland and forces you to face reality: It’s Monday. You have school. And it starts in 20 minutes. A sense of panic begins to rise in your chest as you rush to throw on an outfit. Your palms begin to sweat as you brush your teeth, remembering the English test today you didn’t study for. A steady pounding begins to throb in your head as you gather your school supplies with the thought of the unfinished essay due 6^th period. You feel nauseated, fatigued and stressed from the idea of walking into the same school gates to do the same school things with the same people. What could be causing you to feel so sick of this repetitious routine? Is it a cold? Is it the flu? Nope. It’s senioritis.

What is senioritis? According to Google, senioritis is a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance. In other words, senioritis is a common mindset that little to no effort is required to academically pass senior year, and it spreads throughout the senior class like wildfire.  As a senior here at West High, I can confirm that this is a real thing, and unfortunately I’ve been victimized by the symptoms as well. To be completely honest, most of the West High seniors have probably felt the effects of senioritis at least once. It’s practically inevitable, and it doesn’t only happen to seniors. Have you ever waited to start a project until the night before it’s due, even though you’ve known about the assignment for at least a week? Some might call that procrastination. Some might call it laziness. In my opinion, I think it’s both. Procrastination and laziness are huge symptoms of senioritis.

The reason it’s named after the seniors specifically is because we’ve spent the past three years working studiously and diligently to balance out our academics, extracurricular activities and social life. Now that we’re finally at the top, the biggest fish in the little pond known as high school, it’s our turn to sit back, relax and watch the underclassmen try to balance out their responsibilities, right? Wrong. By the time October rolls around, we’ve realized being a senior isn’t a walk in the park. Yes, most of us have more electives instead of academic classes. Our parents might be giving us a lot more freedom than we had freshman year. But with the title comes responsibility. We have to set an example for the underclassmen. They look up to us. We’re one step away from graduation, from college and from our independent futures. It’s a time for personal statements, SAT’s, college applications and letters of recommendation. It’s a time for discovering who’s really been there for us outside of seeing them in class each day. It’s a time to find yourself and what you’re passionate about.

It’s so easy to get caught up with all of the events and activities going on in high school. Sometimes, we lose track of what’s important. Life after high school is a thought that tends to drift in the back of our minds, but it seems so far away compared to where we are in life right now. It feels as if we’re being pulled in all different directions, desperately trying to keep our stress levels to a minimum. Some of us might be feeling overwhelmed with all the college talk. Some of us might be scared to leave our families. Some of us might be ready to hop on a plane the moment we graduate. Whatever the case, our future is around the corner. The next time you can’t find the energy to finish an assignment, think about what’s causing you to feel so sluggish. Maybe you need to take a quick break. Maybe you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or maybe, you’ve got a bad case of senioritis.