Senioritis by Tiffany Gu
It’s second semester. I’m a senior. Two sentences that don’t mean much individually, but when put together, concoct one of the most fabled illnesses of high school – senioritis. Suddenly, my classes are just a little bit more relaxed in atmosphere and the intense drive to succeed and do our best has all but vanished overnight. The virus spreads quickly and potently, but amidst cheers for the second semester and a sort of permission to develop a slacker mentality, the true meaning of senioritis has kind of been lost.
A disease so popular and infectious has many misconceptions and rumors floating around in the air in a swine flu like way. Presumptuously witty underclassmen boast, “Ohhoho, I’ve had senioritis since freshman year!” False! Senioritis is not, in fact, the same thing as laziness, though it seems like on the surface that the two are one and the same. Laziness isn’t time sensitive, laziness occurs from the very beginning of our lives and will find itself a part of us forever, if it is intrinsically there. No, senioritis is something different, something directly paralleled to having that sort of detached feeling towards this place. Because in a little less than four months, we’ll all be gone from this place.
It’s a combination, really, of just pushing so hard for years and years to become who we are now. All those sleepless nights and piles of stress to the point where we wear our shoulders like earrings, we’re bound to crash sooner or later and lose whatever has driven us. Of course the main thing is college apps being submitted and everything. After pushing through the first semester, juggling a normal academic course load with the thousands of knives and delicate intricacies that consist of the college application process, this sudden collapse in hardworking morale really can’t come as much of a surprise. And after somehow, miraculously, surviving scholarship application after financial aid application after college application, a brief respite tinged with buzzing nervous energy is needed. Demanded.
As of right now, I know I’m not alone when I say that senioritis hasn’t truly quite hit yet. There’s a bit of relaxation in the air, the eye of the storm that remains calm until college decisions come out. A bit of emotional drama, trauma will ensue but at the end of it, our allegiances will shift. Then all attempts at self control will break loose as the temporary future we have worked for is all but determined. Our collective lack of effort in these coming months ultimately stems from the fact that we will no longer be Apaches any longer and any effort to try and remain so and attached is fruitless and futile. We’ll be launched out of this comfortable bubble of Arcadia and into the “real world” and in spite of what John Mayer says, it exists.
So excuse us if we miss a couple homework assignments here and there. This is just a rest stop and we are fueling up for a long journey ahead into the future.
It’s second semester. I’m a senior. Two sentences that don’t mean much individually, but when put together, concoct one of the most fabled illnesses of high school – senioritis. Suddenly, my classes are just a little bit more relaxed in atmosphere and the intense drive to succeed and do our best has all but vanished overnight. The virus spreads quickly and potently, but amidst cheers for the second semester and a sort of permission to develop a slacker mentality, the true meaning of senioritis has kind of been lost.
A disease so popular and infectious has many misconceptions and rumors floating around in the air in a swine flu like way. Presumptuously witty underclassmen boast, “Ohhoho, I’ve had senioritis since freshman year!” False! Senioritis is not, in fact, the same thing as laziness, though it seems like on the surface that the two are one and the same. Laziness isn’t time sensitive, laziness occurs from the very beginning of our lives and will find itself a part of us forever, if it is intrinsically there. No, senioritis is something different, something directly paralleled to having that sort of detached feeling towards this place. Because in a little less than four months, we’ll all be gone from this place.
It’s a combination, really, of just pushing so hard for years and years to become who we are now. All those sleepless nights and piles of stress to the point where we wear our shoulders like earrings, we’re bound to crash sooner or later and lose whatever has driven us. Of course the main thing is college apps being submitted and everything. After pushing through the first semester, juggling a normal academic course load with the thousands of knives and delicate intricacies that consist of the college application process, this sudden collapse in hardworking morale really can’t come as much of a surprise. And after somehow, miraculously, surviving scholarship application after financial aid application after college application, a brief respite tinged with buzzing nervous energy is needed. Demanded.
As of right now, I know I’m not alone when I say that senioritis hasn’t truly quite hit yet. There’s a bit of relaxation in the air, the eye of the storm that remains calm until college decisions come out. A bit of emotional drama, trauma will ensue but at the end of it, our allegiances will shift. Then all attempts at self control will break loose as the temporary future we have worked for is all but determined. Our collective lack of effort in these coming months ultimately stems from the fact that we will no longer be Apaches any longer and any effort to try and remain so and attached is fruitless and futile. We’ll be launched out of this comfortable bubble of Arcadia and into the “real world” and in spite of what John Mayer says, it exists.
So excuse us if we miss a couple homework assignments here and there. This is just a rest stop and we are fueling up for a long journey ahead into the future.