Photo courtesy of cottonbro, Pexels.
As the 2022 Commencement Ceremony grows nearer, its effects on graduating seniors is becoming more apparent. It seems that “senioritis” is sweeping through the Class of 2022 at an alarming rate.
Senioritis is defined by Oxford Languages as “a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance.”
As college students, we’re all too familiar with this affliction from our senior year of high school. After spring break, one of the big academic milestones left is graduation. It becomes all students think about, and that leads to a lack of drive to complete all our remaining assignments. This proves dangerous when you consider that in between spring break and graduation is finals week.
I’ve certainly been dealing with the effects of senioritis now that spring break is over. I have many major assignments left in my classes, but I lack the will to complete them. I’m certainly not alone in dealing with this procrastination and loss of motivation in regards to post-break schoolwork.
Paulina Rusinek is a senior psychology student who’s involved with the sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alliance of EOF and Friends and the Educational Opportunity Fund program. Senioritis has affected how Rusinek has been approaching her assignments.
“I also make sure to submit things on time, however, seeing that the date to graduate is so close, I tend to put off my work until it needs to be done,” she said. “This mentality has also put a lot of stress and pressure on me because I want to make sure that everything gets completed but I am genuinely so ready to be done, especially with having three out of my four years of college be impacted by the pandemic.”
Helen Witte, a senior political science major involved with Student Government Association and the Ramapo Admissions Student Ambassador (RASA) program, has a positive mindset in dealing with her senioritis.
“I am procrastinating on assignments and don’t spend as much time on them as I used to. It is a good experience though because I have been learning that you don’t need to spend seven hours a day studying to do well in school,” she said. “I feel that senioritis has forced me to balance my school work with social activities.”
Kayla Gill is a senior nursing major involved with the RASA program, the Peer Facilitators program and the American Cancer Society On Campus. She’s been enjoying her semester and is taking a relaxed approach post-spring break as she looks forward to events such as Relay for Life on April 1.
“I feel like I want to be more relaxed post-spring break as opposed to before break because I was still in the grind,” Gill said. “This semester of nursing school is not as hard and demanding as the other ones, but there is still a great amount of work that needs to be done.”
If I can overcome the negative way senioritis affects me, I can approach my final assignments with the veracity I did before spring break. This way, I can sink into the relaxed feelings brought on by it and end the semester on a positive note.
mkrasny@ramapo.edu
