Onset Senioritis | Brianna Cateriano

Onset Senioritis is a serious condition that hinders any given senior’s ability to produce any sort of motivation. As a result of this, many seniors with this condition have symptoms that include: not completing their assignments on time, skipping class, or ceasing to put in any effort whatsoever. As a senior, I can attest to the fact that this is a real disease that all of my friends (including myself) struggle with on a day-to-day basis. While there is no proven medication to cure onset senioritis, there are a few ways to prevent the symptoms from worsening.

The first treatment that has diminished my symptoms is remembering that I am not yet done with highschool. Yes, it is currently the final stretch of high school, and it feels like the work that is being done has no importance because most of us have already applied to college and heard back from some. However, this notion is far from reality because it is important to keep in mind that colleges oftentimes check your senior year grades and if they see that your attendance has fallen, there are multiple missing assignments or your grades are not up to par, then they can rescind your acceptance to their school. Your grades still matter as a senior, so they should be treated of such importance, and they should not be neglected.

Another treatment that I have found helpful when it comes to treating my senioritis is writing all of my school work down in a planner. In doing so, I can easily remember deadlines, directions, and that I actually have homework, which allows me to get my work done when I need to. Especially now in the age of online learning, writing things down is becoming less popular despite the fact that it has been proven to help people remember things. For this reason, making that extra effort to get a planner and performing the act of physically writing down what needs to be done can help those struggling with onset senioritis to gain motivation to do their school work.

While I have been struggling with senioritis since my first day of senior year, as with many of my peers, I have learned that there is no effective way to completely prevent it from occurring. There are, however, ways to treat the symptoms so that they do not work. These treatments include making an extra effort to remember that high school is not over and writing down all of your assignments in a planner to keep organized. For those struggling with onset senioritis, we will get through this together!