3 people with senioritis in Culinary.

Coming to the halfway point of 2nd semester, many students are feeling burned out by all their work that has been done for the past 8 months.

However, seniors are facing a more difficult challenge with both trying to finish the year strong, and trying to prepare for what lies ahead in their future. According to ChatGPT, “The concept of senioritis emerged within the context of high school particularly in the United States. It describes a phenomenon where students in their final year (senior year) experience a decline in motivation and academic performance as they approach graduation. While the term itself gained popularity in the mid-20th century, the underlying behavior has likely existed for much longer,” In a survey of 100 students, 62 say their senioritis has affected them. 

While the feeling of being burned out is valid for students, they still need to do well in their classes and complete their work to graduate. It seems that “senioritis” had already infected many seniors before Christmas.  

“On 12/26/2023, there were 542 incompletes from the 1st semester.  Of those 542 incompletes, 119 were for seniors.  Of these 119 seniors, 25 seniors had more than one incomplete,” assistant principal Dr. Michael Parrie said. 

And, senioritis continues to spread.  

“As of today, 3/13/2024, there are 367 incompletes that remain from 1st semester […] For 3rd quarter, there are 926 incompletes.  Of these 926 incompletes, 225 belong to seniors,” assistant principal Dr. Michael Parrie said 

Students find it very hard to feel motivated in their work. 

“The first time I’ve not cared about my classes was in the beginning of March. I had straight A’s and said you know what I’m good. I can start to not do the work and it won’t affect my grade that much, because I have straight A’s and their mostly 5’s in each class,” Senior Jeanette Villegas said. 

Other students agree. 

“I feel like I started to not care anymore when other people around me started to not care anymore, they impacted my perspective on how to feel about school,” Senior Itzel Nava said.

Other students feel like they’ve already finished high school and deserve a break. 

“I think we deserve a break; I don’t think I’ve given up entirely. I still care about school but definitely the break part, like spring break is coming up and it’s really exciting, and being able to relax and not stress about school any more in 2 months,” Senior Ashley Seals said. 

And, others agree.

“I feel like I did partially give up because most of my classes are kinda easy, but I am excited because we do deserve a break, and spring break is going to be refreshing, and I get to rest and relax because its all-easy work from here,” Senior Daniela Lopez said.