Balancing your new responsibilities and freedoms as a senior can be a challenging task. Since it is so close to the end of your high school career it can almost feel like you are already done.
Second-semester senior year is widely known as the semester that you “don’t do anything.”People have made it out to seem that once you have gotten to the second semester in your senior year, that means that the work is done and that school does not matter anymore. Not everyone thinks this way but it is hard to keep motivation up during the last five months of high school. A popular term, “senioritis,” which means “a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance,” is used often in the modern day. When someone is so close to finishing a huge chapter in your life, it is normal to feel less motivated. Teachers also have to deal with students who just do not have motivation to learn anymore. It can be tough when your students do not want to work and sometimes just stop doing classwork.
It is still very important to finish the year strong. In some extreme cases, if one’s grades drop so low, their college of choice can withdraw the senior’s acceptance to that college. Depending on the school, grades dropping can also affect scholarships that were given to that student.
To hear firsthand how a senior at NDB is approaching her final semester, Gabby Lonardo talks about the general view of second-semester senior year.
Lonardo states, “Yeah, I think a lot of us right now, we don’t know what college we are getting into, so that definitely helps with keeping us going, but as more acceptances come out, I think maybe people are going to slack off more, but overall I think we are doing pretty well.”
When asked if she knows what senioritis is and if she deals with it, Gabby said, “I’ve heard a lot about senioritis. I would say I have it a little bit, because I think everyone gets it a little bit, but I’m in a lot of harder classes and I think that keeps me motivated…so definitely taking harder classes keeps you like on top of it and keeps the senioritis away.”
Lastly, when asked how she feels about her last semester of high school, Lonardo answered, “I thought I was going to be more sad. I’m definitely sad to leave high school behind but I’m also really excited to go to college…but I am happy to spend these last couple months with my friends.” As Gabby said, there are many mixed emotions when it comes to the final semester of senior year.
As the last semester of high school comes to an end, it is natural to feel a mix of emotions, like excitement for the future or sadness from the nostalgia of the last four years of your life. Overall, the way one approaches the final moments of high school can help set the tone for the new chapter of their life.
