Senior students took full advantage of the “senior skip day” on March 18th. A total of 266 students didn’t attend school on this day, which is 63% of seniors at Lightridge.
The chronic absence and lack of motivation of seniors in high school is otherwise known as senioritis. Senioritis is often used as an excuse for skipping class and not turning in work.
After spending the majority of their academic career stressing over their futures, ending the college application process provides relief to many seniors all over the country. Many students have already been accepted into college, securing their immediate future. Being ready to move on takes a toll on seniors’ school attendance, performance, and general effort.
¨Last year and previous years I felt like I needed to try harder to get into colleges that I wanted to go to,” said senior Maggie Conroy. “ But now that I’ve gotten into some schools I feel more relaxed¨
Other students have already decided what they are going to do for college. Riley Hwang is committed to play D1 softball at Rutgers.
¨Because I already know what I’m going to do after high school, all my assignments and grades feel like they don’t matter so I have less motivation to do them,¨ said Hwang.
Some of this demotivation comes from colleges not looking at seniors’ grades. The early action application process happens in the beginning of the year, and students hear back from schools quickly after applying. Sam Kravic explains how this is affecting his work ethic.
“A lot of the schools I applied to are early action, so they don’t look at my grades this year at all,” said Kravic. “I’m still trying to do all my work but I definitely put less effort into it”
He says that he’s always been a big procrastinator, but this year as his workload increases he just finds himself getting more discouraged to do it, knowing that it has no real effect on his future.
Senior skip day is an unofficial symptom of this larger senioritis pandemic.
“It was nice to get out and just have a day to do whatever with my friends, especially knowing that we are all going to different colleges,” said senior Jude Cabral of the sanctioned day off. “ It makes the time we spend together more special.”
