How Can We Cure Senioritis?

For the entirety of their high school career, seniors have been working relentlessly to keep their grades up in order to get into the college of their dreams. But once seniors start to get their letters of acceptance, we start to see a trend where  grades plummet. This phenomenon is known as Senioritis. We know that Senioritis is a decline in seniors grades and motivation, while most seniors get senioritis after they start getting accepted into college. What we still don't know and what many seniors would like to find out, is how to cure Senioritis. 

The article from The New York Times, How to Cure The New Senioritis? Make Yourself a Senior Project explains why seniors have Senioritis, the article states, “Without an external motivator (reward of college admissions or threat of college denial), far too many students have little idea what to do or why.” In other words, what The New York Times is trying to say, that after getting accepted into college, seniors have nothing else to work for. They no longer have to maintain a certain average to get into a certain college. And they no longer have to stay up till one o'clock in the morning studying. Seniors finally have the ability to relax, but with this sense of relaxation we start to see seniors grades drop and motivation decrease. 

Even though it is nice for seniors to finally be able to relax without worrying about consequences, most seniors don't like the feeling of being unmotivated. Harborfields High School senior, Nate Pelaka, who has already been accepted into his dream school states, “Since I have already been accepted into my dream school, it’s hard to find any motivation to keep my grades up and do my homework.” Nate also adds that “Because I feel unmotivated, it's hard to get up in the morning to go to school, I dread going there now.” 

So, how can we help Nate and many other seniors who feel similarly? The same article from the New York times suggests that seniors should make themselves a senior project to become more in touch with matters to them other than school work. One example the article gave is becoming an EMT. Maybe what matters to you the most is helping others and becoming an EMT is perfect for that. 

By seniors making themselves into “senior projects” they can locate their motivation again and harness it towards something they feel actually matters to them.