As the countdown to graduation turns from weeks into days, spring sports wrap up, and the workload lightens, seniors may start to lose the momentum they had at the start of the year. This lack of motivation and habits of procrastination seniors experience towards the end of the year is known as “senioritis” and affects seniors across the country. The phenomenon of senioritis has become more popular with the widespread influence of social media. Yet, the question still stands, is this feeling damaging seniors as they finish their last semester of high school? Or is it offering a sense of peace after four years of hard work?
Symptoms of senioritis include a drop in grades, leaving assignments unfinished, procrastination, and a loss of interest in studies. According to Education World, senioritis can be caused by different factors in a senior’s life, including detachment anxiety or the desire to start a new chapter of their lives that is just out of reach.
Many Prep seniors are currently facing senioritis as their last days of senior year approach. Lane Gooding ’25 commented that she sees her senioritis as beneficial to her life after experiencing lots of stress during her junior year and first semester of senior year. She shared, “After figuring out my college future, I felt a huge relief. I can now enjoy school as a place to learn instead of trying to get the highest grades possible.”
Mr. Mitchell has witnessed his fair share of senioritis after teaching seniors for 24 years of his 27-year teaching career. He shared that the symptoms of senioritis become most apparent in students at the start of the second semester, with warmer weather being an aggravating factor in this equation. The final checkpoint of this disease is when college acceptances are sent out. Once seniors commit to college, the acceptance that they will soon start a new chapter of their lives hits and leaves them counting down the days until graduation.
Gooding can attest to this: “I first started seeing symptoms of senioritis when I committed to college because I thought I could relax, but I soon recognized I still had to apply and get into college. I didn’t allow senioritis phase me into I got into my committed school, then I finally felt like I could lighten up and relax more.”
While senioritis may seem like a rite of passage for graduating seniors, it’s important to recognize the fine line between well-deserved rest and disengagement. Senior year is about balance: celebrating achievements, savoring final moments, and maintaining just enough focus to finish strong. Whether senioritis is seen as a hurdle or a healing pause, it’s a reflection of the long, challenging journey students have taken and the exciting future that lies ahead.
