Waiting for the last day before the deadline of an assignment. Sleeping in your English class. Arriving late to school, nearly on a daily basis. 

“Senioritis” is a term used by teachers to express a lack of motivation from students, several missing assignments, and daily naps in class. As seniors focus on graduation, this topic becomes a concerning issue for teachers and parents at EHS. This topic unquestionably brings up controversy, and I firmly believe that it is a real issue at Edison High School. Some of the main concerns that make it an issue would be jeopardizing your graduation, being denied admission to a college if already accepted, and having to repeat the year. 

Many, including myself, might ask, “What could be causing this?”

Ms. Christine Heinze, an English teacher who teaches Seniors every year, shared her thoughts on improvement and what could be a key factor in this issue. She explained that the pandemic had a huge impact and many kids became lazy because of it. As one of her students, I had the privilege of hearing Heinze’s advice to maintain one’s work ethic until graduation. She said, “Students made a contract with themselves when they walked into this building on September 1st. You need to fulfill that contract for yourself… Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have applied to college, you may be denied admission based on your grade performance.”

Having to repeat a full year again would be costly. Not only are you starting from zero again, but you’ll have to work harder to make sure that you graduate by repeating a year. At the very least, getting a diploma fulfills a high school education that almost everyone needs to secure a job. An alternative would be a GED but even so, you still have to show up to your classes and put in the work.

In fact, all educational endeavors require some amount of work to be put in.  In most acceptance letters to a college, there is a preeminent portion that talks about being denied admission if grades are not up to par. Acceptance notices are “provisional and contingent” upon the completion of your final transcript. Some of my acceptance letters responded with this recurring line, which compelled me to ask a student’s opinion on this overall topic. I interviewed Maahi Rathod ’22 to get her opinion on the topic, and her responses were insightful and equally intriguing. 

Q: Do you think you have Senioritis? Are you able to catch up on work and keep up with it?

A: “I think I do but at the same time, I don’t cause I am excited about graduating high school but there are some times where I struggle a lot in my classes…”

Q: Do you think COVID impacted that because it was virtual?

A: “Yes, I do believe that because virtual learning was not it for me. It was terrible. My grades weren’t good. I’m hoping this year I can do better and learn from that.”

Overall, I firmly think that Seniors who are in danger of repeating a year should improve by communicating with their teachers for help. Only you, yourself can make the decisions towards having a great, final year and I believe everyone can make things happen as long as they put their mind to it.