How to Cure the New Senioritis? Make Yourself Your Senior Project

Every student’s experience is different and every student has a different level of preparedness to navigate their senior year. For me, back in 1972, I was lucky to have supportive parents, teachers, and friends (who were also going on to college with similar levels of support.). I had one friend {#2 in our class)whose parents called me and another friend and asked us to come get him out of the house to get him to relax a bit a couple of weeks before graduation because they were worried he hadn’t let-up even a little bit to relax and reflect. We were all lucky that we had that network of support. Over the intervening 47 years, I appreciate more and more how truly lucky and privileged I was to have that support network. So many students don’t have it. First generation college students are facing those same challenges as my friends and I did without the level of support we had. It’s daunting for them. It doesn’t mean they won’t succeed (and thank goodness many, many of them do) but to them senioritous is a luxury they only wish they had (at least for a bit.). I would like to see a more organized effort to have those of us who were fortunate enough to have that support to have a chance to volunteer in local high schools to to a “sounding board” to assist those who are going through this rite of passage and don’t have the support we privileged folks had. Just a little help can mean so much to those who need it.

As a teacher of predominantly high school senior class members over the last 20 years, I routinely experience students using the term senioritis from the start of the school year. Is this even a real word? I also tell my students that I do not tolerate what they think senioritis. Of course, I teach a class required for graduation, so all the students are in the gravitational pull of a high school diploma. I still push all the students until the final exam. Just the same, your article failed to mention the most important element of working through senioritis is for students to have a teacher willing to set high expectations, and hold them accountable when they don't try their best to meet them. This takes a little more work, but the rewards are better for the student, their families and teachers. Everything can be a teachable moment.

The trouble with psychologists is that the focus on the trees without seeing the forest. Their extreme over individualized account of human behaviour completely misses the significance of the emergent features of culture and social structure than are crucial in shaping individual life. It’s not only about the internal or external but how both interdependently form the student expressed.

Gap year. Trade school. Volunteer. Work. Travel. Opportunity usually knocks, but its rarely the door that we planned for, hoped for or dreamed for.

This piece misses an important phase for many high school seniors--the senior project. Many public and and private high schools do demand that their seniors pursue a formal project and to make a public presentation of their work. Seniors at those schools learn how to interact with people and to put the skills they acquired at school to work.

O, please, it’s another phase of life. Don’t give the kids more pressure to go out all Proust. Just let it happen.

Senioritis? If you get along with your family, look around the house you live in. You’re not going to see it the same way once you leave and come back. You’re about to be a visitor, for the first time, in your very own home. Chances are you’ll be back for holidays and vacations if you go away to college. If you stay in the house and work, it will still be different once you take off your graduation cap. You’ll be expected either by family or society that your parents’ house is just temporary after graduation. You may still live there, but in your mind, you know it won’t be forever. Not anymore. Did you have your own room? Study the walls, what you hung up on those walls, and will be taking down at some point. The closets will be used for guests probably, not somewhere to shove your secret stuff, or house your new and old outfits, those trinkets you brought back from special times, remembrances. If you have a pet in your house, and you’re going to be leaving your pet behind with your family, spend time with him or her - extra time - now is the time. Go for walks if a dog, or maybe a few extra treats if a cat, or snuggle time. When you’re gone, you’ll be glad you did. And when you come back for a visit, acknowledge that furry friend with passion. They will miss you more than you know. And the people in the house? Look closely. They’re going to change too. So appreciate your time with them. Things will change. But you still have time left now.

We, as a family, cannot relate to senioritis. Starting with my generation (coming up on my 50th high school reunion) and our children and grandchildren, after school work to save for college along with AP classes to reduce the number of classes you need in college so you graduate college without debt is the watch word. There were not AP classes when I became the first in family to graduate college. For the grandchildren, those classes are available. What has been useful is finding internships for that summer after the senior year or the second semester of senior year for those who are unsure of what to do in college or apprentice programs for those who will not be attending college.

"have been driven to believe that high school is merely a four-year audition for the right college" Funny, I have come to believe that, for many who aspire to it and the misguided guidance counselors who guide them, college is a four-year extension of high school. Coming from a different school system in a different country, I have to say what a relief it was to wave farewell to so many dubious students after the equivalent of 10th grade, when they went on to fates more suitable to their talents. And when the college transition came about, there were still more diverted to other outcomes, so that college became, except for the occasional American exchange student, a haven of intelligent talk and actions. It must be so galling to be an American college student and realize that the drones who were so much of a drag at high school will still be around in college.

It is not the first time I have written a response to an article like this and I’m afraid it won’t be the last. It seems to me likely that Mr. Johnson works with and for kids and families with not a small amount of socio-economic status and at least some prior college history in their families. His suggestions may be appropriate for those kids and for many who have responded already. Unfortunately it is not written for kids and families with less choice in life. Many first in their family college attendees must spend their time working as many hours as they can, often at minimum wage jobs, to even afford the cost of travel to their school. If they are fortunate, they may find assistance with College Prep programs designed for them, either through their intended university or a stand alone entity—programs to help them prepare better for what will face them in a new environment, academically and socially. I would hope we would all be more aware that not everyone who goes to college has infinite choices or the luxury to debate how they will spend their time at the end of senior year. There are many interesting articles that could be published about the variety of students entering college, not just those in the upper to top socioeconomic groups.

The story about being st a friends office when an applicants mom called feels made-up.

I am a senior in high school and I am both feeling sad that I have to leave a place I love so much and happy that a new adventure is waiting for me. I think senior year should be a year of self-reflection and preparation. I am learning lessons that will apply to my life forever. People should not shut down because school is almost over, they should increase their different opportunities to take advantage of every little thing they can before they venture into the "real" world. Just as a side note, I had three tests yesterday, 3 ap exams to study for and a bunch of projects all due very soon! So no Senioritis for me.

I believe senioritis is a real thing that many seniors encounter espeically during second semster. Schools around Glenbrook North take the oppurtunity to allow kids to do exacrtly what this article says, whcih is find themseslves. Many don't realzie that kids now a days don't known how to do much without relying on thier parents yet they won't be there for the next 4 years. Taking the second semster to get a job, pursue a passion, or simply learn something new that will help you for the next years is much more beneficial than making kids who are relucfeent to learn by second sesmeter sit in a class and stare at a clock.

From the experience of living and educating in a different country, culture and language, I wonder if this would be a conversation if Americans didn’t mainstream concepts like “senioritis,” “burnout” or ”spring fever”.

Perhaps this should be done before senior year.

Re: Senioritis ... at the senior high school level. We thought you were referring to our senioritis ... that from being 89 and 92 year old seniors and feeling a lack of purpose because we're the only ones remaining from our generation and no one appreciates us any more. We wish we in back in high school to experience the almost magical feelings of that level of senioritis. Maybe in our next lives ...

visiting friend's family yesterday I asked the two older kids what they were currently interested in. the 9yo boy said 'engineering' and explained examples with interest. the 13yo girl said 'nothing' with blank face and I remembered reading that teenagers apparent disinterest may not be real - more likely they feel overwhelmed with the huge unknown world of possibilities - one the one hand totally exciting ('I could be anything !!!') on the other hand totally scary ('I could be raped and murdered') - so - which way to go - sit on the fence with a blank face. or another perspective - as a 15yo shortly before both my parents died, they told me 'you can do anything you set your mind to' - great - except I had no idea and didn't know where to start. After I was orphaned at 15yo I was free to do anything - and felt like I was alone in the middle of a desert with nothing on the horizon for 360 degrees. You're free - now which direction will you go. Freedom can be debilitating and enervating. Reminds me of a final comment from a documentary with an ex-30 year top Scientologist contemplating why he'd joined and stayed so long - 'If I can just believe in something, I won't have to think for myself'.

The only good financial aid packages come from the most competitive schools. So coming in second-best comes with a gigantic financial penalty. Until that situation changes, education will have to remain a transactional arms race, and everyone will continue to suffer.

I got terrible grades in high school and the senior year was the year I started straightening out my life. Ultimately, the grades were irrelevant but I used that year to form better study habits and attended city college before transferring to and graduating from UC Berkeley. The only thing from high school that mattered in the transfer process was the three years of foreign language classes that I barely and undeservedly passed (this satisfied a foreign language requirement). I think if I’d goofed off that year the same way I goofed off the first three, I would have been a failure to launch instead of reasonably successful. I think if you get into a great college out of high school, you should still keep it serious in senior year and not let yourself abandon the habits that got you where you are.

I thought the senioritis reference was about the elderly. LOL

I think it really depends on the kid. Mine was really craving a break in his senior year, and he stepped back as much as possible, maintaining grades enough to prevent jeopardizing a merit scholarship and dropping a couple of extracurriculars that he no longer felt interested in. He had an incredibly fun last semester, just what he wanted. It got so bad that one of his teachers expressed concern, and I also worried that his slacking off was a sign of things to come, but in college he's taking an overload of classes by choice, getting great grades, and contemplating a double major. He also tried a new sport and is in more clubs than I thought possible to join. That break he took during his senior year really was just that--a break. Temporary and restorative. In retrospect I'm really glad I didn't encourage/insist that he make "better" use of that time. But I also saw plenty of other kids really grinding it out all the way to the end of HS, clearly enjoying their coursework and activities. Those kids are also doing very well now in college. I don't think there's any recipe for the best way to do senior year.

I can't relate to the current students. Back in the 80's when I was in high school, after the AP exams in May, that's when things became interesting because teachers didn't need to teach to the test anymore, and so we learned a lot more content outside the AP curriculum. It prepared us better for college. Nowadays seniors don't want to do anything. If they could, they wouldn't even come to school. How does that attitude prepare one for the next four challenging years of college?

I was lucky enough to receive good advice from the Guidance Counselor Freshman year: Take one extra course each semester and when you arrive at the end of 1st semester Senior year you will have met all of your graduation requirements. Now... You can walk off of campus assured you will graduate and you can take what she called "The Lost Semester" and do what you will with it.....Get a job, go backpacking to Europe, go to a local college and get a few college credits under your belt. It was GREAT ADVICE.... I got a jump start on my college education.

I went to a trimester school so my experience was a little different. You were checked-in until after the end of second trimester at the earliest. That really only left three months of school left for day dreaming and listlessness. Seeing as so many seniors took AP tests, the school had the brilliant idea to eliminate classes after students took AP tests. All seniors got a free month off to either complete missing requirements before graduation or otherwise do whatever they wanted. So that left two months for seniors. Everyone else hated the seniors. Personally, I spent that time preoccupying myself with sex, parties, and work. Not necessarily in that order. However, that wasn't a drastic divergence from my behavior before college acceptance anyway. The main difference was I started working a whole lot more now that school was off my back. I'm talking three jobs on top of a hectic social life. I wouldn't call that summer fun exactly. I was a walking zombie most of the time. However, I can't say I ever felt bored. Added bonus: My parents had absolutely no control over me because they never had any idea where I was.

Kids in technical high school go to work the last semester of high school. Almost all will remain with their employer after graduation.

Educators like the author despise the notion that education is transactional, clinging to the effete notion that education is about betterment of self and mankind. While it is undoubtedly better to know things and to be able to think critically (were more Americans able to do so, we would have avoided the national self-immolation of Trumpism), the immediate purpose of education for a student is to get a piece of paper entitling him or her to the next round of the game -- entrance to a good college, then entrance to either a good graduate program or to a well-paying job. It's not what students know, it's what others think the students know and which institutions have given them imprimaturs of competence. The failure of educators to acknowledge and embrace the transactional nature of the commodity they are selling contributes to the disconnect and disaffection their customers (the students and their parents) experience.

As a teacher who works primarily with juniors and seniors, I agree with the author’s prognosis but not the prescription, as it still keeps kids in the mode of “do something now because of its useful outcome later.” “Date someone because of the skills it will teach you for interpersonal connection,” as opposed to “look around and see if there’s anyone you’d like to kiss right now because kissing is awesome.” My students have had so much structured time that precisely what they need is the radically un-structured. The anti-project. They need to allow themselves to be bored, live in the void for a moment, push through, and see what they find on the other side. They need to be allowed to be human without agenda which, ironically, is also a great skill for the rest of life.

Burnout is real for an ever increasing number of high school seniors. A very real trend in schools considered competitive is for students to bond over their stress, people forming cliques by competing with each other over who is most stressed out. Schools are responding by changing their master schedules to create more empty periods, offering recommendations to nearby therapists, and those who prescribe pill-shaped assistance. Another shift is the hardening of the faculty into automatons who are expected to only offer lessons that create or contribute to this. Those who care enough for their students as people and would like to introduce creative lesson plans that also teach how to deal with stress are increasingly suppressed, excused from service, it self-select out. Not every school, but enough of them to make me wonder what happens when students grow up and expect more of what they went through for their children as their model of good education?

Maybe the High Schools could offer some advanced placement and even entry level college-accredited courses for their college-bound seniors. Wouldn't hurt anyone to have a few credits 'in the bank'. 'Creative writing', 'Fundamentals of xxx', etc. Ever see 'Stand And Deliver' ?

In my senior year of high school our 2nd semester was an internship. You either did something that was of interest to you in the field of study you would be pursuing in college, or something community based. That was over 30 years ago and the program is still going strong. My boys had a similar opportunity during their senior year although their internships were only the last 6 weeks of school. They each found an internship in their chosen field. It has certainly helped them to hone in on what they wanted to study in college.

I have a very different take on this. High school seniors are coming to the end of a significant period of their life. In a few months, many will be leaving family and close childhood friends, or watching as high school friends move on. They should take this chance to make some lasting memories with those friends. Go to the beach, camping, the prom, Kings Island. I also encourage high school seniors to reflect and take a moment to thank the people - teachers, coaches, parents - who have made difference for them. If you don't usually talk to your grandparents, spend some time talking with them, one-on-one. You may be surprised at the connections and memories you'll form. You have your whole life to find a passion. You are going to spend the rest of your life adulting, and most of the rest of your life working. These last few weeks of high school, however, will be gone soon. Spend them strengthening ties with the people you love.

I don't know... My senior has been reminded multiple times by her chosen college that she MUST keep her grades up (i.e. to what they were when she got admitted) or risk losing her spot in the fall. She's more stressed now than ever, and with all AP classes, the home stretch to those exams is putting on even more pressure. No senioritis for her, and I think it's a shame.