Since the beginning of the spring semester, I’ve noticed that my motivation for school is dwindling with every passing day.
During my senior year of high school, I experienced a similar lack of motivation because when graduation is close, it feels like you’re done. While this may be easier to deal with in high school, many vital things are occurring in the last few weeks for seniors in college.
It’s hard to juggle everything between classes, assignments, internships, jobs and trying to make memories in the last few months of college. Not to mention getting your cap and gown, getting pictures and participating in other senior rituals.
A research study was conducted in 2021 to explore students’ perceptions of senioritis and how those perceptions and other variables influence academic motivation. It says they also wanted to explore senioritis at the college level because most research focuses on high school.
The study says senioritis is characterized by being late or absent from class, decreased motivation or investing little effort in school. It also highlights how the senior year of college is a significant transition period filled with stressful decisions and anxiety about what’s to come.
“Students may vacillate between feeling happy about an upcoming graduation, sad about moving on from an environment they know how to navigate, and anxious about all the unknowns ahead,” the study says.
While my anxiety about schoolwork is high, thinking about entering young adulthood and paying off my student loans is much more daunting.
The research study used statistics to show how loans can be a significant source of stress for college seniors. It says that 64% of college students take out loans to pay for college, and 70% of students who take out loans report stress about finances and looming repayment, especially for those who don’t have work lined up.
I am mentally exhausted and burnt out when it comes to school, and I am so ready to be done and have my degree, but being this far doesn’t mean I’m finished. Even easy classes are hard because “busy work” and simple tasks drain my time and energy.
I also want to make the most of the time I have left with friends who may be out of the state for the foreseeable future, especially my friends from out of state who are moving home.
The one thing pushing me past the finish line is that if I fail one necessary class, I will have to take a summer or fall class and owe more money, especially because my scholarships will be gone.
Although senioritis is a common phenomenon and often discussed in high school, college seniors have it too, and maybe even to a more extreme degree.
Kate Beske is a journalism senior from Destrehan, La.
