Senioritis: The fight to stay motivated

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Seniors over the past two graduating years have been disenfranchised or cheated out of their senior years experiences and activities. I have especially had trouble staying motivated or connected with the school and my schoolwork with other seniors that have similar experiences or thoughts over the past year.

With virtual school or a hybrid learning model, most seniors have not been on campus in the last year. Without an actual class, many students are more easily sidetracked and less likely to pay attention while in class. Being at home provides so many distractions and other tasks such as TV, chores, or family members. All these things can limit the productivity of seniors and if they are already undermotivated, it can create an even larger barrier to productivity.

With there being so much leniency this year with class length and assignments, many seniors have started their summer jobs early this year and are trying to balance their schoolwork between shifts at work. This can cause increased burnout and pressure on students who now have less time to socialize or complete assignments causing more anxiety and procrastination.

Furthermore, the seniors this year are not as connected to each other compared to if it had been a regular school year. On top of that, both graduation and prom are being either replaced with something else or being moved virtually. While the Senior Fest is a good compromise for prom because it lets us do something, however there is still that feeling that the class of 2021 won’t have a normal prom or graduation experience which is often most looked forward to during senior year.

Without these senior events, there is less motivation to work as well. Typically, there was incentive through these events such as walking across the stage at graduation or making sure your attendance is good to attend the senior events that helped combat the senioritis and burn out. Without that appeal and draw towards participation, either due to health concerns or events being canceled or changed to follow Covid precautions, there is much less of an incentive.

While staff and administrators did do their best, there is still an increased feeling that this year didn’t matter as much and that there is no need to try as hard in a virtual environment amongst senior students.