As the final months of the school year for seniors come around, their disengagement, workload, and absenteeism increase. Feeling anxious as time passes and falling short in academic stamina since their year is almost over. With graduation, prom, and ISC on the horizon, students find themselves struggling to muster the same level of enthusiasm they had earlier in their academic journey.

A deficiency of desire or indifference that some high school seniors may have during their final year of study is referred to as: Senioritis, in common language. When students start to lose interest in their studies, classes, and other school-related activities, they may experience a sense of disengagement. It can show up in a variety of ways, such as a drop in academic performance, an increase in tardiness or absenteeism, a loss in involvement in extracurricular activities, or a general sense of boredom or apathy. Senioritis may be a difficult obstacle to overcome as it can impact academic grades and future opportunities.  

“Senioritis isn’t a disease you can catch from someone else, but it has become the name for a feeling that truly does affect many students when the end is near, I have felt it very hard on me but simply its a decline in motivation that can actually cause real damage to your outcomes if we do not end with it,” Senior Maria Jose Londoño said. 

As May gets closer more seniors lack academic performance, and while some fight through, others blow it off. Teachers and administrators are concerned as the phenomenon develops. The signs and effects of giving up weeks and/or months before school ends may affect a student’s enrollment in college or overall GPA. Students need to continue to dedicate time, effort, and perseverance to school activities up until the last day of school so that they can absorb all the information in high school that will prove valuable in college.

“I have been trying to finish up my work but it is still very hard to concentrate knowing that this year will almost be over,”Londoño said. 

The Senior POV 

Senior Luciana Alzate is described as a high performance student struggling with senioritis. She is a member of NHS since 10th grade, which shows how dedicated she is to school and her necessity to keep her grades up to maintain her NHS membership. Throughout the past months she has missed more deadlines and accumulated absences than ever before. Her stress and anxiety have risen but laziness has beaten them.

“My GPA has been very high these last few years but in the last months of school I have been struggling with keeping it up, I just want to leave school,” Alzate said. 

Even though Alzate has not let senioritis get through her, it has been hard for her to overcome it which causes last minute work and the fear of failing exams. 

“Every time an exam comes around I feel like i’m going to fail it because I have not kept a constant academic stamina,” Alzate said. 

Alzate has noticed a loss of motivatio among her friends, but they try to encourage each other. They pretend as if they still have a long route to check off school from the list.

“My friends have also been lacking with senioritis, but we all try to keep up our scores by motivating each other,” Alzate said.

The Teacher POV 

For Spanish teacher Erika Atehortua senioritis is a difficult thing to deal with. Students desire to leave school and turn in mediocre work, they should know that teachers grade until the last day. Atehortua also stated that in her class students do not turn in work or turn it in weeks late. 

“Of course, this attitude has affected my classes’ GPAs by decreasing significantly, and there are students who have turned in assignments late or not at all,” Atehourtua said.

Not many students have decreased their productivity in Spanish class, but it is sufficient to see a decrease in averages. Star students that had a great start in August decreased gradually; bimester by bimester their grades dropped. 

“Only in some cases grades have decreased significantly, but the change has not been very drastic, what I mean is a gradual decrease, little by little as semesters transcur,” Atehortua said.

Even though some students lack in Spanish class, Atehourtua states that she is proud of her seniors because they seem tired of working all year long for turning their goals into reality.

“I congratulate all the Seniors, because despite the fact that they are very tired in the last days of classes, there are more students who give everything to finish their high school and, in general, this stage of their life,” Atehortua said.

Senioritis is caused because of many different things, but many students have stated that the school environment has not treated them very well.

“Senioritis has been a difficult battle for me, I have felt defeated at times because I want to leave, school has not been very good to me, but I keep getting good grades,” Alzate said.