Teachers famously love complaining about their high school seniors because of a made-up disease known as senioritis. Senioritis entails “lazy” seniors demonstrating a decline in their academic performance, with steep reductions in the amount of effort and hard work they put in. Ultimately, every teacher questions the gravity of this issue and dismisses it as fake.
But it’s not senioritis — it’s burnout.
The workload of senior year of high school is unmatched by that of any other grade. Seniors strive to balance AP classes, maintaining grades, exams, visiting schools, extracurricular activities, college essays and their own mental well-being.
“I do believe in senioritis, but to be honest, it hasn’t hit me that hard yet,” senior Rosemary Varkey said. “I think there are some days where it’s chill, and other days where it feels as if the teachers meet up and plan to have tests and homework all converge on their due dates just to spite their students.”
It’s no surprise when seniors claim they are burnt out because of the number of tasks they’re juggling. But some teachers genuinely believe that burnout is real.
“Senioritis is real, but it’s synonymous with the word burnout,” AP Literature teacher Mr. Simbulan said. “Some of the seniors who utilized that term correctly were the freshmen, sophomores and juniors who took all the AP classes, who had proven themselves to do well and be accepted into the specific colleges that they wanted. However, some of the students who do not know what burnout means are using that as an excuse as to why it’s okay to submit mediocre work.”
This is the honest truth we must face. Yes, some seniors abuse that term, and I am not justifying this behavior. However, there are some students who are genuinely burnt out, and their feelings are hidden behind the falsified idea of “senioritis.”
I had heard of senioritis from my older friends since freshman year. It seemed like a laughable idea at the time because of the way it was presented. It was a term that was thrown around so casually that I assumed it was just a joke. I had promised myself there was no way I would be susceptible to this silly illness.
But nowadays, burnout has been chasing me relentlessly. It feels impossible to get home after being in school for seven hours, work on crafting a personalized college essay and brag sheets for recommendation letters and then have to slump in my chair yet again to begin my homework.
On Thursdays, an hour of dance class causes me to lose two more hours due to the 30-minute drive to and from the studio. Having free time is a near impossibility these days, let alone sleeping for a recommended eight hours.
It’s no joke when seniors say they are struggling, and it’s unfair to dismiss their complaints. We need to start taking senioritis seriously so high school seniors feel heard and get the support they need to get through this vital year.