Plagued by ‘senioritis’
Recently I’ve been suffering from some serious side effects of school: laziness, dreading waking up, absolute lack of motivation, tired of picking out cute outfits, not following through with reading assignments, regularly napping and, most of all, constant daydreams of graduation. Yep, I’ve caught the crippling disease — I have senioritis.
Now you may be thinking, ‘Senioritis isn’t that big of a deal,’ but yes it is. After attending school non-stop for almost 16 years, it’s easy to feel drained. It’s a never-ending cycle of tests, assignments, homework and exams. There’s been some bad grades, a few skipped classes and several times I’ve wanted to give up – but I wouldn’t say I’m a bad student. I have a decent Grade Point Average, I pay attention in class, I ask professors questions when I’m confused and I always hand in assignments on time. But after a while, it gets a bit repetitive.
Since this is my last semester, it’s almost like I can’t bring myself to care. For example, during the first week of classes, I found myself actually staring at my watch and counting down the minutes until the end of class. At this point, I’ve seen so many syllabi, and have participated in an awful amount of ice-breaker activities, that I know the drill. “I’m Olivia, a senior journalism major from Connecticut and my fun fact is that I’ve been to over 70 concerts.”
Basically, there are different tiers of college. First, you start out as a freshman knowing absolutely nothing. During tier one, I signed up for all 8 a.m. classes, thought it was normal to cling to everyone on the same floor as me and wore my student ID on a lanyard around my neck. The second tier is composed of sophomore and junior year – probably the best two years of college. Throughout these two years I realized who my real friends were, made connections on campus and took my core classes.
With senior year came the final tier. First semester is like a slap in the face letting you know you have to enter the real world soon and the second semester is the home-stretch stage. I’ve been running this race for so long and I can see the finish line in reach.
At the end of May though, it will all have been worth it when I’m handed that diploma and have a secure job ready to go. Honestly, that’s the only thing that keeps me going. Yet, it seems so far away. I feel like I’m slowly losing hope that I’ll make it. However, I’ve been trying to break it down like this: three weeks until spring break and then seven more weeks after that, give or take a few days. It’s definitely a struggle, but if I’ve made it through, say, about 100 weeks of college so far, I can handle 10 more.
Although these few classes may not seem like they’re worth passing, they are. They can affect your overall GPA and if you fail a mandatory class during this semester, you might not be able to graduate. So, as much as you don’t want to, I would suggest still studying, taking notes and following through with homework assignments. Get a planner, a pack of sticky notes and make sure everything is in align before May rolls around. Not only do you need to pass these classes, but you need to hand in your Intent to Graduate form, buy the cap and gown to walk in the spring and start job hunting.
This may seem like the semester to slack off, yet I’ve come to realize that it is probably one of the most important semesters of my college career. It’s the time to finalize your resume, find a job in your field, tie all knots at the university, get recommendation letters from professors, receive the final credits to graduate and decide where to live. It’s not the time to blow off important issues, but it’s actually a wake-up call to get things done.
Don’t let senioritis steal all of your motivation this semester. I’m not a nursing major, but for other people suffering from this affliction, I’m prescribing sweat pants, good music, some partying and a few Aspirin for the next day. That should get you through the next two and a half months. Until then, good luck out there, and don’t lose sight of your goals.