Senioritis: It's Real, It's Everywhere and It Can't be Stopped

Special to Patch By Chrissy Cilento, Emmaus High School Senior

It happens to the best of us. I thought I was immune, but now I realize no one is. Try as we might to evade it, eventually it will find us. Senioritis. The disease that somehow excuses seniors when they neglect their work. The word I scoffed at on the first day of school. It’s real. It’s everywhere.  

The statistics are astounding, not to mention alarming. Left and right, my classmates drop like flies. Some lost the battle way back in November, after they sent in their college apps. Others checked out as soon as they got their first acceptance letter. Some, still, have been done with high school since midterms freshman year.  

Here’s how this phenomenon works: Somewhere between an innocent post-dinner episode of The Big Bang Theory and 1 a.m., we seniors realize, “Wait a minute... I have finals tomorrow.” The most disconcerting thing about this realization is that we’re not disconcerted about it. Apathy spreads through our bodies like a disease, until we’re essentially forced to give in, glue ourselves to the couch and go on Twitter.

Senioritis isn’t an ignoring of our responsibilities. We’re completely cognizant of the fact that we have homework to do and exams to prepare for -- we’re just more cognizant of the fact that graduation is a week away. 

This article itself is perhaps one of my most fine examples of senioritis. I was just sitting here on my couch, thinking about my complete lack of motivation to open my Calculus book and study, when I thought “Hey.. I should write an article about senioritis!” Well, of course, I can’t write an article about senioritis without first grabbing a snack and a drink, turning on my computer and becoming distracted by social media for a good hour, taking a 45 minute nap to clear my mind and ensure maximum productivity, and then writing the article.

That just wouldn’t make sense.  

June 9th is a mere four days away. I can almost hear the air horns and silly string canisters sounding amongst administrators calling names to receive diplomas. Four years at EHS will culminate in one handshake and a piece of paper. All the people I’ve grown up with for the past 17 years will be by my side and my mom will probably be bawling somewhere in the audience. Now you can’t honestly tell me you’d rather think about logarithmic differentiation than that.

Chrissy Cilento, a senior at Emmaus High School, plans to study journalism in college. She is a periodic contributor to Patch.