An Inevitable Plague: Senioritis
Jocelyn Goldstein (9-2) and Gabrielle Ketchum (9-2)
Photo courtesy of Helena Saven (12-4)
With the Masterman Class of 2022 merely months away from graduation, promising futures are looming. As our seniors experience the final months of their high school careers, riding the wave all the way to the shore isn’t as easy as it might seem. While graduating is the light at the end of a 4 year tunnel of diligent study, seniors feel unbothered to finish high school with conviction.
Senioritis, defined as a lack of motivation in the final stretch before graduation, often results in absences, rendering seniors a less ubiquitous piece of the Masterman puzzle. From “a 50% in AP Statistics” to “20 absences,” senioritis plagues Masterman’s seniors.
When inquiring about how many of his peers have senioritis, Jose Dasilva (12-1) responded with “100%;” “every single person I talked to.” In a recent survey, 20 Masterman seniors were asked if they believed they suffered from senioritis. A staggering 95% responded affirmatively, further supporting Jose’s claim. Jose declared he “Absolutely, one hundred percent, no doubt, [is experiencing senioritis],” and attributes its origins to “the second [he] submitted [his] first college application.” He added, “I get off the subway and I’m like, man, I really could just turn around right now, I really could. And some days I do, you know? Because it just feels so pointless.”
With college applications submitted, seniors have become more and more tepid about schoolwork. Malena Parrado (12-3) stated, “It started when I was applying to colleges.” Further emphasizing the toll of this process on her academic studies, she added “I put more effort in applying to colleges than my school work.” Others offered different explanations. For Jasmine Gambhir (12-1), it was “as soon as [the] second quarter closed.” Jasmine reasoned, “that’s when your grades stop getting sent to colleges and nothing matters.” As the hawk's eye of college admission offices seemingly steered away from seniors, levels of senioritis increased. Giuliana Alleva (12-1) also started experiencing senioritis “As soon as second quarter closed.”
It is imperative to note that not all seniors experience senioritis. “The people that were always really on top of their [schoolwork are] still the same” Giuliana alleged. Some stay motivated in these final days. Jasmine describes the continuous motivation as “a personality thing. You gotta be the type of personality that always wants to do really well even if nothing is on the line. Some people might be stressed that eventually your college will see your grades,” Giuliana hypothesized. As students of a top tier academic magnet high school, the percentage of seniors with senioritis might come as a surprise. But to corroborate the Masterman mentality, Jasmine admits the magnitude of plagued students is “not as many as I might have expected.”
While senioritis typically has negative connotations, many 12th graders shared some positive effects. “I’ve had more time to hang out with friends because I’m spending less time doing school work,” Malena exclaimed. Giuliana divulged that “[students] get to talk so much more together in class” and “[teachers] are more lax and they joke around with us a lot more.”
The bombardment of work at the start of college may be concerning to someone with senioritis. Jose expressed that he is not worried about the transition to college: “I think when I go to college I’ll be able to wake myself up. Reinvigorate myself academically and be able to come back to the school grind like I never left. I’m a worker. I’m a grinder. I can do what I put my mind to and the second I walk into that college campus I’m going to want to be the best me. And that doesn’t come with these senior habits. Those college grades, they matter. And these bad habits aren’t sticking around. They’re not habits, they’re just temporary.” Malena shared similar feelings about the transition to college: “I know I am capable of doing the work, because I have done it in previous years. I'll just be more recharged when I go to college now.”
Although at first senioritis seems undesirable, to many it has proven pleasurable and stress-free. Graduation can’t come soon enough for many seniors; however, they still reminisce about the triumphs that make their high school experience memorable. Jose emphasized that he enjoyed “[seeing friends] be contributing members to the greatest club Masterman has ever seen, the Howard Shore Club.” “I’m looking forward to having my own time to do things. In college you have a lot more free time and I’ll miss highschool sports, specifically soccer. Shout out to Mr. Roache,” Malena recollects. “I’m excited to be independent in college,” Jasmine added. Giuliana and Jasmine collectively agreed on “the closeness of friends” as something they would miss. With specific examples of “doing everything with them” and “being with them for most of the day,” they predict they will feel nostalgic in college. While the future is bright, it seems the current plague of burnout, late assignments, and absences actually brings our new age of Masterman seniors together.