At some point during the time in which education became standardized and a majority of people found it necessary to graduate high school, a phenomena commonly known as senioritis developed. It functions as a continuum; each student suffers it a little differently. For some a homework assignment isn’t important enough to get done even if one has the time to do it, while for others senioritis means missing an entire week of class to go to the beach with friends or play videog ames. The source is overwhelmingly agreed upon to be fatigue. The student has made it through the worst years of puberty, and worked their way through at least four years of information that will allow you to function as an educated member of society at a basic level with hopes of attending college or having some kind of steady job. Recent generations have less of a chance of finding a well-paying job without a college education, therefore more of us experience senioritis twice. However, it feels quite a bit different the second time around.

When It Hits

Most high schoolers don’t start to get senioritis until the spring, when the weather gets nice and the idea of Prom starts floating around in their heads. A select few contract it when Junior Year is over and they realize they only have one year left, but most refuse to cave until after college applications are all in and maintaining grades is not as important. This might be similar for college students applying to grad schools, but for those who are not senioritis hits as soon as you realize you have more in common with the Alumni than the younger students that go to your school.

Everyone Can Drink

It’s finally the year where most everyone that you’ve been friends with for 4 long years can drink! You have all made it and now you are just looking for a few stragglers to hop on the bar train. Suddenly you don’t have to wait for that party on Saturday, instead you have to resist the urge to partake in Tequila Tuesday at the local pub…every week. Being faced with difficult readings and essays, how hard a young adult must fight to resist the temptation that only existed to them for a very short time in junior year.

We Call It a Capstone

Every senior must complete a final project of sorts in order to graduate with their desired major. If you have an idea of what you want to study in college at the end of your senior year of high school that’s considered an advantage, but in college completing your desired track is a necessity. Whereas homework can feel pretty useless when you’re preparing to enter the real world, doing the work necessary to complete this project needs to go at the top of your list. To give into senioritis, is to jeopardize your chances of graduating and suffer some costly consequences.

The Guilt

You are basically required to have a high school diploma if you want to enter the American work force. No one is forcing anyone to spend thousands of dollars to acquire a college degree, but Americans have always been funny about asking for what they really want. It doesn’t seem ethical to make a student who didn’t have the right to work for the first 16 years of their lives cough up at least $80,000 dollars to have better qualifications. But these qualifications are so sought after that it’s becoming less and less possible to find a job that doesn’t require a college degree. So consider this a gentle shove by corporate America to invest that small fortune, and not to screw it up so near to the finish line. At least not if you want to achieve that American dream. Learning for the sake of learning? I think not.

You Decide What Matters

We prepare to graduate high school nervous but comforted by the knowledge that we’re not on our own just yet. Our path to adulthood has not quite come to an end so we act in the moment without thinking of the long-term effects. The difference in college is that we are much more aware of the big picture, and we have learned to think critically about our actions. So when we come to a crossroad and the guilt washes over us because we want to go out with friends, all the while knowing we have a test Monday, we decide what we want to treasure most about our college experiences. For some that means putting the textbooks aside a little more often with the knowledge that we can’t value everything the same amount, so we learn to be comfortable with our decisions and values. There is a case to be made for funny memories from a night at the bar lasting longer than your pride in receiving an A on an exam. Not all side effects of senioritis are negative.