OliviaFranklin

Have you been having trouble  finishing all your homework? Studying for tests? There’s a word for this: senioritis! 

Despite being called senioritis: juniors, sophomores, and even freshmen can experience it. 

Senioritis is happening to more students, with distractions like TikTok, new Netflix shows, interesting books, and hot new movies to lure them away from more important work.

According to Grand Canyon University, senioritis is a term “used to describe the decreased motivation that students can experience as they approach the end of their studies.” 

Senior Christina Laa said, “I am partially feeling senioritis. I’m more on the lazy side, where I don’t want to do work or be at school, but some-times I feel extremely motivated and realize I’m only going to be at Marian once, so I should live in the moment.

“I believe I am feeling senioritis, because I have already been accepted into college. As a senior, you have the feeling of being lazy and slacking once you know the school you chose to further your education has accepted you. Not only that, but you want the freedom of being out of high school, so it’s hard to be patient and wait. To prevent this, I try to make myself realize that these are the last memories of high school I will have.”

“Even though I’m not a senior, I have been experiencing senioritis,” junior Lauren Milliti said. “Now that Easter break is over and we have no more breaks left, there’s a lot of things coming our way and people keep asking about college.” 

To prevent senioritis, she tries to do all her homework ahead of schedule, and takes initiative by looking into colleges and determining her interests. 

Freshman Eliora Agbenohevi said, “I’m experiencing senioritis and I think it’s affecting me because it’s my freshman year and I’m not used to this new, heavy workload. I try to listen to music while doing my work in order to prevent this.” 

It’s so easy to think, ‘Oh! I have time, I can finish later. I’ll definitely get it done by class. However, that’s usually not the case. It’s easy to procrastinate so you can do things that are more enjoyable. This leads to many students staying up too late and feeling like a zombie the next day. 

Out of the 164 people who responded to the Network’s Google survey in April, 120 students are feeling the effects of senioritis. More than half of the students at Marian are struggling to focus on their homework and put in their best effort. 

Also, out of the 120 responses, 44 answered that they aren’t feeling differently. Many people experience seniori-tis, but there are steps you can take to prevent it in the future. 

Ms. Priscilla Trecek, Marian’s Learning Services Coordinator, said,“Write out a daily game plan in an agenda. If you physically have a list of items you have to get done, taking action on the school work is easier. Sometimes when we think about all we have to get done, it’s overwhelming in our thoughts. Some-times just writing it down helps us feel better and notice ‘hey, this is do-able,’ or can actually get you to start taking ‘action’ on your school work.” “You can then also look at the entire week and jot down what days you can get other tasks done to help you ‘let go’ of non priority tasks and focus on today’s priority tasks,” Trecek said. “Focus on one day at a time and make the current day productive! Don’t rush work or just get it done to get it done. Wouldn’t it be nice if you made quality work on a task right away and feel confident when turning it in that you are officially saying, ‘I GET IT. TEST ME ON IT!?’”

Lastly, Trecek encourages students to get a support system of parents, counselors, teachers, and people like her to chat with about feelings of stress and diminished motivation. She also encourages girls to examine what the lack of motivation is stemming from. With a couple weeks left to go, students of all ages are experiencing the exhaustion caused by senioritis.