Students struggle through senioritis payton zolck
For many seniors, the lectures they have listened to for four years start to resemble the “WA WA WA” sounds in Charlie Brown. Their eyes gloss over as they fiddle with their pencil, their thoughts drawing farther away from the classroom. This description is the typical image that comes to mind when the word ‘senioritis’ is used. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, senioritis is an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades. However, is senioritis just a lack of motivation felt by most seniors, or can it signify something else? According to Carlmont’s Students Offering Support (SOS) coordinator, Shelly Bustamante, the lack of motivation to continue in school is normal. “If you are like, ‘I’ve got senioritis. I want to be at the beach. I don’t want to
be in class.’ You know, that’s normal and typical. You’ve been here for four years, and you’re getting excited about college or whatever you plan to do after you graduate, and your head is in that space,” Bustamante said. For some seniors, the feelings expressed by Bustamante are something that can be related to. Many find it hard to stay motivated in school as they look towards the future. However, Cooper Perez, a senior, expresses frustration regarding lacking the motivation to do her work. “I think I have a little bit of senioritis, and it mostly comes out when I’m doing my homework. I find that I procrastinate more and think of school less after the last bell rings for the day than I have in other years. I do find myself frustrated with myself when I decide to put all my reading to the last minute,” Perez said. Senioritis stands as more than just a mere lack of motivation for some students. But rather a realization of their view of the educational system and their
role in it. Senior Anna Burford expressed her lack of motivation being mainly derived from her desire to not give in to the expectations of the “system.” “I think at the end of the day, it’s a realization that maybe you’re not doing school for the purpose of truly learning. You’re just doing it to climb up the system and do things according to the [educational] system. If there’s a way out of that, then you’re just not really going to care anymore,” Burford said. Burford regards the lack of motivation often associated with a senior’s second semester can work to reveal to someone what they genuinely care about in such a low level of motivation. “If you find that you’re still putting your all into certain sports and activities, that’s how you kind of know that you actually do care about them. When you’re losing motivation in almost everything in your life, to be able to be still motivated by something is really livening,” Burford said.
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