Senioritis: An Epidemic

Ah, senior year. It has finally arrived! Prom, senior banquet, commencement, graduation, senior portraits, the sheer excitement! With the laurels we seniors are resting on. The actual bulk of senior year--is dull in comparison. After all, we've been sitting in these very classrooms for the past four years, not counting intermediate school, elementary school, pre-school. A lot of school. Nearly 13 years, gosh darn it! And that last summer, ahhh.... the sunshine. STOP! You’re distracting me! Back to business. Now, despite all these horribly distracting events, activities, and memories, as well as memory-making, it’s important to stay on track. Yes, I know, you’re tired of all of this. Yes, the teachers are still boring, Yes, the bathrooms perpetually smell like urine and undiluted bleach. Yes, after this year, YOU’RE FREE! But let’s get back to reality. You’re not free after this year. You've still got college to go to. And if you let senioritis take over, you are not going to make it to college. You have to keep your head on your shoulders, if you want to make it. You have to realize that, not only is senior year your last year of high school, it’s the last round in the fight. It’s the last time someone’s going to be there holding your hand, helping you out along the way. Take advantage of this while you can, to stand out among the crowd. Unlike the finales of most movie franchises, your senior year is meant to be the most epic, and the best of all your years of high school. You are the most experienced, hence you shouldn't be making the same mistakes as a junior, sophomore, and especially, a freshman. Don't let senioritis distract you from your scholarship search. So buckle down, and actually get stuff done. Get those admissions essays, math worksheet (curse you calculus) and history flashcards done. Log out of Facebook and on to Khan Academy. Even better, shut off your computer. Research those deadlines. Ask for help. Lots of it. Make senior year the best; the way it was meant to be. Don’t let laziness take control. Remember how driven you were freshman year? I remember busting my butt for straight A’s. I was a freshman! But I can feel senioritis gripping me. Especially when my teacher drones or when I stare at an essay I meant to write the day before and never got around to. But I know that if I want to succeed, I have to learn to push my self. I am the one most responsible for my success. And you are too. I think senioritis is discussed too lightly in our society. It’s not just something we should joke around about. It truly is a disease, and I've been suffering from an early-onset strain since my junior year. The way it grips you; it’s relentless. But we can do it! As I write this, there is a spot above my desk on the wall that wasn't there a second ago. Oh! Look a speck of dust, floating over my unfinished stats homework. I remember that time when I got dust in my eye at the beach this summer. It’s going to be a long year... How are you coping with senioritis?