Captain’s Log: Day 20, 16:00
I’ve gone mad. Not only the crazy mad, but the angry mad. Even the pigeons and crows can sense my chaotic frustration as I furiously toss the remnants of my Cheetos from lunch at them. They give me a dirty look, but peck at the puffy neon snack anyways. I’m getting into spats with flying rodents. Ought I to plead mild insanity now?
Sitting outside of the Ventura High School auditorium, scratching my head like a cave man searching for fire, I begin the brainstorm. Cue the crack of lightning and the boom of thunder as my brilliant mind rests upon… nothing. {sidebar id=65}
I’m stuck, lacking motivation, creativity, and scrambling for an inkling of an idea. How did I get here? Why am I still here?
My friends, the answer is quite simple.
Senioritis: (noun) the complete and total lack of motivation or drive that is required to prosper in an academic setting. Often occurs during the 12th year of one’s educational career, but can also occur prematurely in younger pupils.
To use in a sentence: As Amelia decided against doing nothing but eating and sleeping for the rest of the week, she couldn’t help but wonder if senioritis had finally gotten the best of her.
If you’ve never heard of it, you’re either a) lying, or b) a transfer student from an Amish town in Pennsylvania.
Eavesdrop around a few seniors at any given time and chances are that the topics will sound similar across the board:
“Who wants to hang out this weekend?”
“Did you do the physics homework?”
“Did you ever hear anything about the job opening?”
“When’s the SAT?”
“When are UCs accepting applications?”
“Wanna go off campus with me?”
“I’m so tired!”
“Is the year over yet?”
“I’m dropping physics.”
It’s the final year. Captain Lindsey compared it – appropriately, I believe – to a bike race. We’re getting ready for the final hill. In the midst of it all, it feels never-ending. But once we cross the finish line, walk across the stage, receive our handshake and paper validation of all our hard work, we’ll have wondered where the all the time has gone.
For some of you who aren’t seniors, you may feel like you’re dealing with a premature case of senioritis. And maybe you are. It’s not unheard of; I was a case of “I’ll do it later”s and “I don’t care about this”s my sophomore year. It felt like I was trudging through mud, carrying the depressing sophomore literature on my back, and hoping, waiting, wishing, that senior year would just get here already.
Sometimes these early cases of procrastination are cured; people get their second wind and are able to power just a little stronger in the hopes of academic success. Others find it more challenging to overcome that intense urge to stop trying.
Reminiscent of Bill Nye the Science Guy, I’d like to ask you to consider the following: If you really were in a bike race, in the final legs of the race, moving forward up the hill, and you begin to slip and slide back down the incline, would you just let it happen? Would you wave goodbye as you watched all your other peers continue to huff and puff onward? Or would you turn around, buckle down, and power through?
We’re only in the first quarter of the school year, and we’ve got a long way to go. Plan to finish strong, or not. The choice is yours.
