It’s about that time of year. There’s no more blaming it on the “beginning of the semester” adjustment phase. You cannot blame the “tapped out Thanksgiving” or “winter break” phases. Instead you’re stuck in that in-between limbo phase of wanting to be an excellent student but also challenging yourself to watch every show on Netflix.
“Why shoud I study when Netflix just added more episodes of the Kardashians?”
You’ve begun to reach a lazy slump that you know is beginning to get out of hand. Congratulations, here’s your first taste of senioritis. RUN, as far away from this disease as you possibly can otherwise you’ll notice the quick decline in your grades and in your mood.
For starters, take the average, busy-bee senior in college as an example. Finding the right balance now between acing exams and staying on top of tedious projects (especially group projects, ugh!) can be really hard in addition to having a social life, being involved on campus and topping the cherry on the cake with a job or internship. Phew! I’m surprised that senior hasn’t toppled over already. Or have they?
*Mental breakdowns occuring daily and no longer weekly, thank you college*
This is where that senior begins to get into a funk, a struggle of wanting to have all of those last “senior moments” and succumbing to those events. Instead of writing that killer paper, or finishing that detail oriented project they pick social life above all else. They have probably seen the social life after college through post grad friends, and realize that it is NOT pretty.Â
What’s the hardship with doing your assignments? You’ve been here for three years; you know how this works. This is true, BUT most seniors have studied abroad or have already fulfilled internships in their major. Basically they’ve either seen the world, or have already done this same exact work but got paid by an employer to do it. That being said, the classwork gets a bit repetitive with constant excel sheets they’ve already done all summer for an internship. Or comparing competitors for a brand that they have already worked for makes eyes roll and their annoyance to go through the roof. They feel like their time is being wasted, and yes they do have a bad thought process of “I already know how to do this.”
“No, I’m not doing that.”
As for the senior courses that require grammar quizzes or group projects; they makes seniors want to run and pull their hair out. They think their time could be spent looking for jobs, or working at a part time job to save for the post grad life. Don’t take offense to it, it’s just that senior-itis is at an all time high and the stages to escape it are borderline ridiculous.
Seniors, who have already been infected, do what you can now to save your grades. Don’t treat this as a blow off semester; your professors are still watching you. Don’t blow that letter of recommendation by getting lazy now. Do not waste your own or your parent’s money; you earned that debt, now work your butt off to get out of it. Just because this is getting repetitive, that gives you an opportunity to show off in front of peers and professors because you have experiences they lack. As for the repetitive group projects and quizzes, don’t give up. It can be frustrating, but de-stress at those senior events and at the bars with friends. This is your last year, and you can’t let senior-itis ruin even a second of it. This chapter of your life is coming to a close, but remember, you were given this opportunity because of school. Treat it as your first priority and everything else will fall into place.
“MOMMA I MADE IT. I DID IT!”