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Senioritis: Fact or fiction?

by NUCMS
Thu, Apr 16th 2015 10:35 am

Is it really present in college students?

By Jacob Streb

With the semester coming to an end and graduation right around the corner, students of all types are either winding down or gearing up for the finish. Regardless, students are finding it harder and harder to be motivated to study and do work. The term "Senioritis" is often the first word to pop into students' and professors' minds to describe this feeling.

Urban Dictionary defined "Senioritis" as "decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college, and graduate school careers." According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, "Senioritis" can be defined as a "sickness" that strikes seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. 

When asked about "Senioritis", triple-major Jake Pandolfi, hospitality major Jazmina Huskic and criminal justice major Emily Deck answered.

Q: Have you heard of the term "Senioritis" and do you feel that you have it?

Jake: "Yes I have. Do I have it? No. Taking on three different majors doesn't really leave much time to do anything else. I would say I had it more coming into college, not having done anything the last half of my senior year of high school. That transition took some time to get back into the flow of things."

Jaz: "Yes, and I for sure have it. I find it a struggle to do homework more often than not.  Trying to juggle school work and a full time job is tiring and after a work day there is zero motivation in me to do anything else."

Emily: "Yes, and no I don't think I have it. I always tend to do my homework when I have my downtime. Being an athlete has its benefits. Being forced to do homework and papers while in team study groups makes it easier to do work, because everyone else is doing it, too."

Q: Do you feel that your major plays part in it?

Jake: "Yeah, seeing students that are science majors pretty much not have a life, compared to majors like criminal justice majors, which have more abstract thinking involved. It's a lot easier to do those last minute."

Jaz: "Yes, a lot of my work done in my major is done in groups, and that work is really easy to put off till last minute. If one group member can't make a work day, the project tends to get pushed back and waited on."

Emily: "Yes, not a lot of my classes had too hard of a work load, but I have friends that are biology majors and they never leave the library."

When it comes time to study what do you do to get your work done?

Jake: "Go to the library. Going there I feel more productive, and if I'm feeling overwhelmed and am not there that time that could be spent on work is spent on Netflix or sleeping."

Jaz: " Print out all of my work. If I have a physical paper copy of my assignment instead of it on my laptop, I tend to get more work done.

Emily: "Stay in the library until all of my work is done. If I go back to my room, I tend to end up falling asleep or getting distracted."

The National Association for College Admission Counseling gives helpful tips to overcome the problem that is "Senioritis". The main points for avoiding the problem are as basic as planning ahead, not obsessing about college, talking about it with others and to have fun.  Planning ahead is as simple as writing out a schedule for all the things you need to get done. Not obsessing over college can be solved with a relaxing music, and like always talking to a friend is a great way to decompress. These tips are there to make it less stressful and more enjoyable.

All three students agreed "Senioritis" just makes the end of the semester more stressful. When asked if they could go back to their freshman year and change anything, all responded with the same thing: Don't spend too much time with social events, partying and studying more.

Edited by Alexis Tymorek and Dana Casullo

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