We are already in the second semester of senior year at LHS people. Many seniors are suffering from a disease called “senioritis.” If you do not know what senioritis is already, then you should know right now. Senioritis is a crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Signs and symptoms of senioritis are skipping classes, procrastinating, not doing any assignments, being lazy, and thinking about their future too mcuh. Many seniors do not suffer from senioritis until they get their first college acceptance letter or they already have plans after high school. It usually starts around the second semester. I witness many LHS seniors suffering from it.

The main distraction for seniors are electronics like computers, iphones, ipads, or tablets. They rather spend their time on those electronics rather than spend time on studying or working on homework. They go online, posting their status on Facebook, looking through pictures on Instagram, or playing games like Candy Crush. To them, it is a way to avoid busy work since they have been accepted to college already.

Most seniors have a hard time getting up in the morning because they either stayed up late studying for a test, work for a part time job, or play on their phone. They may have a hard time paying attention in class or they may just fall asleep. Or maybe they went to bed on time and once they wake up, they may not have any motivation to go to school and still feel tired.

From my experience, I see that many seniors are still doing work but deep down, they just want to be done. Some of them procrastinate until the due date or they turn in things late. I know some who do not do their work at all. They would rather just talk to their friends or play on their phones. Seniors are trying to put on a brave face about everything they do until the end.

But, as in all things, there’s no use complaining if there’s no solution. So, here are some ways you can work to cure, or at least mitigate, senioritis.

1. Balance out your schedule so you will not have to do everything at the last minute. For example, finish math homework, take a study break, and study for a chemistry quiz for 30 min. Make sure your study breaks are not too long. Somewhere between 5 minutes to 20 minutes should be good enough.
2. Grades still matter—even after college acceptances. If your grades drop, then you can be put on academic probation in college, colleges can reduce your financial aid, or getting you acceptances revoked all together.
3. Think of yourself as a college student already. Train yourself to be a college student. Instead of slacking last semester, treat your last semester as if it was a college semester. Training and preparing for college beforehand will help you.
4. Set and achieve goals for yourself like winning a track meet or maintaining a high GPA.
5. Try out new things like taking karate classes or trying out for the school play. You will never know you will like it or not unless you try.
6. Take things one step at the time and do not think about the future too much. Focus on what needs to get done right now.
7. Do not forget to have fun and make your senior year last! You worked hard to get this far.

Do not let senioritis get the best of you. LHS seniors are nearing the end of their high school lives. They have to keep it up until the end. If you are an upcoming senior for the 2015-2016 school year, then after you get your acceptance letters to colleges or already have a plan after high school, keep up on what you do best. Senioritis will be bite you and it will not be pretty. Stay strong until the end.