The mass majority of those in the twelfth grade experience an intriguing disorder where we begin to sway away from the high school curriculum in favor of the upcoming fall term at our new school. This is a generalization, us millennials work hard and we know it. The disease known as onset senioritis has swept past graduating classes and quite honestly knocks on my conscious doorstep every so often nowadays. What is the cure for such a loss in academic interest? Here are some tips from a guy who has many symptoms of this unfortunate ailment for those who may experience anything like it at any age.
1. Measure your learning capacity
What this simply means is that if you are taking in tons of information ninety plus minutes a day, your brain will most definitely want to lose interest, depending on the subject. Devote your absolute full undivided attention long enough to feel that you have accomplished something that day. If you learned the difference between a genotype and a phenotype, and your teacher is talking about her trip to Zimbabwe, you can probably return to daydreaming for at least a little while.
2. Know what type of environment you are in
Some academic instructors may advocate strongly the negation of electronic use. In short, they will actually take your phone away. These classes may cause you to pay more attention to whatever it is you are learning, however some teachers do not “motivate” you to this standard. They will hand some work out and expect you finish without any training wheels. That’s how the working world works, by the way. These classes where you think twittering the whole time is okay are the classes that will kill your GPA, because come time for the exam you really have no idea what the class is about. Take initiative and know it will benefit you in the long run,
3. Do not procrastinate
This is by far the most important tip on this list. Procrastination is a leading cause of senioritis and junioritis, whichever you may have. By focusing on work early, you can say “I’m done” later on while your friends are frantically trying to gather a wikipedia page in the span of twenty minutes the night before the assignment is due. Procrastination will ruin you if you continue it after graduating. You don’t have to go all out the night that something was assigned, just pace yourself, so you have time to put in your best knowledge without the sense of feeling rushed.
4. Find your own style
By this I mean find a way you can unwind and plug some more information into your brain. Take the “studying” and turn it into preparing yourself. You don’t have to sit down at a desk in complete silence unless that is your style. At least relax, tell yourself you know what you know, and if what you know is absolutely nothing, then absolutely grab a book and gain some knowledge. Be sure to pick out the fundamentals, if you focus too much on trying to remember what you already know or what is most likely not on the test, you’ll overwhelm yourself.
5. Know that YOU are the cure
That’s right. Only you can truly cure yourself from the grasp of senioritis and laziness. Find your inner passion, and use it to show the true knowledge you possess. Do not worry about what you want to become or where you’ll be after you graduate, because the outcome of your education is really what you make of it. Some days are just unbearable, all the sitting and not-moving. Just know that someday you will have the chance to look back and evaluate what you accomplish now. Make that memory a good one.
Focus on the fundamentals now, and believe me, colleges will be asking for you. And college is where you can become what YOU would like to become. Seize the day, my friends.