The term ‘senioritis’ is used to reference the decline in educational motivation and performance exhibited by high school students in their last year. At Panther Creek High School, the feeling is all too familiar. As seniors enter their fourth, and last, quarter of high school, senioritis is at its peak, and PCNN decided to take a closer look as to how the phenomenon is impacting the class of 2019.

When asked to define senioritis, senior Alix Pitney described it as, “hitting that point where you don’t want to go to school anymore because you know you’re going to graduate soon.” Pitney went on to state she believed that PCHS is heavily affected by it, saying, “its pretty bad, not because we don’t want to be here, but just because we’re ready to get out and move on to the next chapter.” Although most of the senior class experiences senioritis, it affects each student differently. Senior Jack Pearce says he has, “basically [given] up,” in all his classes. Another senior, Seth Sorensen, agreed with Jack, saying senioritis makes him “not want to show up,” to school.

Based on polling results, the vast majority of the class of 2019 is experiencing senioritis, and most began feeling the effects in their first semester. Some seniors believe that the pressure to do well in junior year causes senioritis, however other studies have found different sources of this lack of motivation. The Odyssey names a few common reasons students may be experiencing senioritis, including anxiety about the future, exhaustion from the last four years of schooling, or feeling overwhelmed about applications and other college-related deadlines.

On the bright side, since so many students experience and push through their senioritis, there are lots of suggestions out there as to how to avoid being affected by this phenomenon. New York University counselors released an article naming a few of these techniques. Most of them focus on maintaining a balance between school work, social life, and health. A few examples include attending school events, keeping a calendar of deadlines, and trying not to obsess over the college admission process.