Claudia Teti ’16: As college acceptances roll in and May inches closer, second semester symptoms are beginning to appear in the Class of 2015 seniors. This lack of motivation that consistently hovers over the senior lounge in the second semester of each school year is commonly referred to as “senioritis.” Scholium talked to both EA seniors and teachers to discover how prevalent the mythical disease really is at Episcopal, and how it is affecting both students and faculty.
While the onset of senioritis varies from student to student, most can agree that they noticed it around the end of the first semester and the beginning of the second. “The moment I got my acceptance letter, I had a lack of motivation to do anything that I would ever have to put on a college application,” revealed Anna Jarvis ‘15, who will be attending Lafayette College next fall. When asked if she had senioritis, Melanie Kovacs ‘15 admitted that she does at this point in the school year. “I had this momentum going before break and J-term, and then I didn’t do anything for a month,” she commented. “I think I was stuck in that mindset when we came back and stayed in the routine of going home and doing nothing.” Kovacs noted that during the first semester she was extremely motivated, and while she still knows she has to do work, “The problem is actually getting myself to do it.”
Photo courtesy of Leigh Adelizzi ’15
Although senioritis is often associated with a negative connotation, the students reveal that it is not always the case. Jarvis explained that without the pressure of applying to college, she can focus on the learning aspect in her classes. “It’s more about learning than the grade now,” she noted. “It’s not as stressful, so class is more of a time for discussion and understanding than cramming in notes and stressing about the class I have next.”
However, the negative effects of senioritis do not go unnoticed to teachers. “It is a disease,” stated Marc Eripret, Chair of the Modern Language Department. “The symptoms are laziness, lack of studying, repeated absences, decreased motivation, and dismissive attitudes.” Eripret teaches AP French and noted that the AP aspect of his class does slightly contribute to keeping the students’ motivation up. “The AP students still have to take the AP exams, so maybe they are not working as hard as they should but they are still doing what is supposed to be done.” Kovacs agreed with this observation, noting that she has kept up with her AP European History readings in both the first and second semesters.
While Eripret finds it amusing to see his students transform from “needing an A” to saying “who cares,” he admitted that he considers senioritis understandable and relatively normal. The senioritis infecting his students does not frustrate him because “it really comes from the students. If they don’t want to do anything, I cannot offer anything.” Eripret concluded by simply suggesting, “I think there is only one cure for senioritis: graduation.”