Abbey Hull for redOrbit.com – @AbbeyHull4160
Almost all of us have been there before: It’s three in the morning with a paper due at 9AM, and a group presentation the next day, and yet what are we doing? Binge watching Gossip Girl or Breaking Bad on Netflix saying, “Ehh, I’ve got time.”
As winter thaws into spring, our minds take on the effects of spring fever and lose interest in the classes we’ve endured all winter long. Most seniors get this disease around March of their final semester, but this illness is neither bacterial nor viral—it’s mental. It’s called, well, “Senioritis”. But the good thing is: There’s a cure.
What is senioritis?
It’s hard to define exactly what senioritis is in scientific terms, but various seniors at Belmont University define it well:
“Senioritis is just like trying to bring your butt to the gym.”
“Senioritis is complete and utter burnout.”
“Senioritis is getting in bed and realizing you have to pee.”
“Senioritis is the point in your life where nothing shocks you anymore.”
“Senioritis is the dream that you have when you’re being chased and you can’t run.”
While it may be hard to pinpoint the exact feeling, Carl Pickhardt, Ph.D., a psychologist in Austin, Texas and author of The Connected Father: Understanding Your Unique Role and Responsibilities during Your Child’s Adolescence
In this acceptance of the work world as inevitable, senioritis goes hand in hand with “future fear” of what is to come, a psychological limiter that makes future graduates reluctant to take that next step. And after all those years of school, the burnout only increases that reluctance.
“It is very common in last stage adolescents (ages 18-23). It takes courage to proceed, but that courage gets easier once one is in motion to further goals,” Pickhardt told redOrbit, noting that working towards goals is one way seniors can stay motivated.
Symptoms include:
- Lack of motivation to complete homework assignments
- Attention deficit in the classroom
- Increased Netflix bingeing
- Anxiety when asked the question what are you going to do after graduation
- The common phrase, “It went by so quickly…what am I going to do now?”
The origins of senioritis, while a common mental state across the United States during those last few months of schooling, all come from the common idea of goal avoidance. Pickhardt says Simon and Garfunkel put it best: “The closer your destination, the more you’re slip sliding away.” As the real world creeps in among those final assignments, there is a certain amount of anxiety towards not knowing what comes after graduation. I mean, all they know is school, which they’ve attended the past 15+ years, so the gap between educational and adulthood can seem very intimidating for those who have only experienced one side.
Risks of senioritis
At the start of senioritis, some risks of giving in to the black hole of motivation can start small, with missing one too many classes or forgetting assignments, both of which can lead to the possibility of delaying Graduation. However, the other side of the spectrum can be just as harmful, as too much focus can lead to seniors missing out on the fun of their final semester. Either way, there are still risks involved for those with senioritis.
“The risks are self-defeating behavior in the form of incompletion of school work that protracts schooling, or one ‘boomerangs’ home un-graduated in hopes of regressing to a simpler time,” Pickhardt said. The risks are not worth the reward…if there even is one.
Treatments—it is curable!
The best way to avoid the senioritis letdown is to keep yourself motivated in the final months of the semester…easier said than done right? But still, there are ways to find the extra push in the final weeks ahead.
First, be sure to take care of your body—no one can work efficiently if they haven’t slept in the past 37 hours (trust me, I know). By eating healthy and getting the recommended hours of sleep, those healthy habits may just be the thing you need to get to the other side of that graduation stage.
Second, know that organization is key—these are the days where time management is crucial! School, work, and social obligations all pile up as the semester comes to an end, and by writing in your academic deadlines as well as your social outings, there is a more likely chance you won’t be that one in the library writing until sunrise (but if you are, at least you knew about the deadline beforehand).
Lastly, know the importance of practice—gain work world experience before it becomes reality. The best way to prepare for work is to experience it first-hand in a safe environment before graduation.
“Even unpaid (although paid is best) job internships while in college are great confidence boosters because they familiarize one with the world of work, they provide role play experience, and they demonstrate that one has something of worldly value to offer,” Pickhardt said. Internships are the perfect opportunity to gain the most experience with the least amount of risk, and after gaining knowledge about the work world, the “future fear” of those affected by senioritis may lessen in severity.
While it may be tempting to prolong the inevitable, the truth is that college is not meant to last forever. Graduation is not something to fear and neither is the future, so by refusing to let senioritis destabilize life, senior graduates can succeed in transitioning from the educational world into the work world.
It won’t be long till you get to turn that final tassel—find the motivation and cure senioritis once and for all.
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