It has always been said that junior year is the hardest year of high school any student can experience. With a ton of AP classes, studying for the regents, and most importantly, taking the SAT.
Yes, all of that can be extremely stressful, but imagine having to deal with the added pressure of overcoming your last year of high school by having multiple responsibilities like college application, managing classes, and balancing life overall.
Twelfth graders often struggle on how to start their senior year. Many approach it blindly because not all seniors have an older sibling who has gone through the same process or had any senior friends from the previous year to share their experiences.
This lack of guidance causes seniors to lose motivation in doing anything, and feeling lost which often leads to procrastination. This is commonly known as senioritis, which refers to loss of motivation students experience during their final year, leading to consequences such as absences, skipping classes, and low grades.
Rui Lee, a senior who prefers to go by Cindy shares her experience with senioritis and how it’s been affecting her mentally and physically, “Senioritis is draining to me, everyday I try to catch myself not wanting to to come to school or skipping my classes because I’m at the finish line anyway. However, then I get stressed because I get work piled on that I need to do.”
Although there are many seniors that have found a way to make their senior year a bit easier, like managing time and having everything well planned out, Makalya Trammell expressed how her senior year has been going smoothly.
Explaining how she’s making her senior year a bit more easier “I’m dealing with it pretty well. My classes are in no way hard, maybe except AP Macro, but other than that most of my classes are electives. I already applied to colleges, I’m looking forward to applying for more. At first I was stressed but I realized I don’t need to stress out, if I manage my time correctly.”
As seniors have about six months left before they graduate, many have come to the realization that they are in the last stages of teen hood, preparing to enter into adulthood. There’s many that have no idea what they’re going to do, but others are ready for the change of environment, and the challenges of “adulting”.
Another senior at John Dewey High School, Audilia St Louis, explains how she’s ready for a new chapter of her life, “Aside from being lost I’m actually really excited to leave this school, I’m sorry to say, but this school has brought me a lot of opportunities because the things I learned in high school I’m actually going to put that in affect in college, so I’m excited for this new chapter in life.”
As described by many students, senior year is described as a challenging and stressful time. Many are learning how to navigate and overcome these struggles, while others are relieved and eager to begin their new chapter in adulthood.
