“I’ll Do It Tomorrow”

Brittany Mcfeeley

Senioritis: (noun) a tragic epidemic affecting seniors across the nation. What is this “Senioritis” disease one may ask? Well, I’ll explain it to you tomorrow.

Highly contagious and deadly are just a few ways to describe such a devastating epidemic. Deadly though? Oh, most certainly deadly to the poor grade point averages of the infected students; so seniors, beware. Scientists have not found a cure for such a huge problem, even though its cause is obvious: college.

Have no fear, this “Seniortis” is not something you can catch by walking onto your dream college’s campus or even talking to those who are fortunate enough to go there, but instead it arrives in the form of a big or small envelope — (insert drum roll here) the decision.

After narrowing a college list from 20 schools to a more reasonable 5-10 schools it comes time to apply. However, around this time of year seniors have either, a.) heard back from their schools, or b.) anxiously waiting for the decision to come in April. Ultimately, all decisions can cause Senioritis. Students who have already been accepted to college are doomed, going through the rest of the year with the skewed mentality, “I already got into a college, so I don’t need to prove anything anymore” or “they didn’t just choose me for my grades, so it’s okay if they drop.” Sound like you? Probably.

The students who got rejected from their dream school, like myself, know the feeling of disappointment like the back of their hands. These are the students who think, “I’m not going to get into a college,” and pathetically believe “my life is officially over.” Even though this may feel very true, (again, I know the feeling) the reality is that we will get into a college one day or another, believe it or not.

Seniors, I’m sorry to inform you that Senioritis may already be knocking at your door, that’s if you haven’t already invited it in yet. There is no set date when Senioritis officially sets in for seniors. It could range anywhere from the first college acceptance (or rejection) in December to the final decision in April.

Teachers, you can save the grades of the victims at the first signs of the outbreak. It all starts with the first “missing” homework, followed by the two day late project, and ultimately no project at all. As teachers, let’s face it, you probably have no control over the spread of the disease throughout the entire senior student body, however, you can provide them with the threat of the college withdrawing their acceptance, because apparently, I’ve heard that really happens.

From experience, I can say that underclassmen procrastination and Senioritis are not one in the same. Procrastination is but a derivative of laziness, and Senioritis originates from experienced seniors who have endured three years of tedious high school work and are awaiting graduation. Procrastination is not Senioritis, but Senioritis can be procrastination.

Now that I have completely exhausted my point about Senioritis, and said Senioritis twelve times too many in this article, I will continue to tell you about Senioritis to fill up the rest of this column. This, my fellow readers, is Senioritis at its peak.

Have you ever wondered why seniors take no standardized tests such as MCAS, SAT, and ACT and you’re forced to take them freshman, sophomore, and junior year? Here is a reason why: I, Brittany McFeeley, refuse to take ten seconds out of my life to spell the names of the tests out for you (even though I’m really supposed too). That is why.

The only time seniors will no longer suffer from Senioritis is (sorry teachers and principals) after graduation. Seniors could try to find a cure for their Senioritis, but let us be honest, we just really do not care.