To All the Seniors Everywhere, Who Are Suffering From Senioritis

 

To all the seniors everywhere, who are suffering from Senioritis,

This is the time when mustering the motivation to do pretty much anything is going to take the strength of Hercules to finish this final year. You’ve worked so hard through almost four years, and yet, right now, none of that matters. You are burned-out and bone-tired. You’re just done.

You couldn’t care less about your grades, your attendance, or all the obligatory responsibilities that are necessary for you to graduate. You have no desire to look at another assignment, study for another test, follow up with whatever library book is missing, or even get to school on time. You are simply ready for it all to be over so you can move on with your life, stepping forward into whatever future you are pouring your energy into planning right now.

You are so over high school. In your mind, you’re already on your way out. Too much has happened for you to want to stick around, too much is happening now, for you to want to pay attention to allthethings school demands and allthethings your senior year brings. You’ve already let go of it all and you’re ready to graduate now. Not a few months from now. Now.

You’d rather be working more hours to save money, than wasting your valuable time in school.

Maybe you’re anxiously anticipating hearing back from colleges, or you’re celebrating having already been accepted.

You might be trying to decide on your major or mapping out your fall classes, or frantically filling out scholarship applications with deadlines drawing near.

You’re probably more invested in picking your roommate for college or shopping for furniture to furnish your new apartment.

Perhaps you’re applying to trade schools, or interviewing for new jobs you’d love to have once you graduate.

Whatever will come next is so much more important to you than what you must tend to now in order to get there. High school is old news and you are ready for all these exciting new things to happen. You have officially outgrown this season of your life, just a little too soon. You have entered the traditional rite of passage, a condition that hits seniors everywhere, every single year. The diagnosis is “Senioritis.” The cure is graduation.

The great tapestry you’ve spent these four years weaving together isn’t yet complete, you just need a few more strings stitched together, but those strings feel like shreds of frayed threads that are nearly impossible to sew. This is going to take some serious incentive and grueling intention to finish this year strong. I know.

So, while you’re dreaming of your life to come, while you are overwhelmed with so many details and decisions you must make in order to plan your future, you still need to hunker down and dig your heels in the ground where you are, right now. 

Yes, it will be hard. You will be distracted and disheveled and deterred through it all because right now your life is on the cusp of changing in a big way. You are in the transitional phase of leaving your childhood behind and heading into adulthood and this middle place is fraught with stress and excitement, fear and overwhelm. It’s a lot to take in, there’s a lot to do, and there’s a whole lot of pressure being put on you.

Hold on, dear senior, while you’re strapped in for the clunky, confusing, chaotic, and crazy ride that these last months will bring. All you can do is the next right thing.

And often, what that looks like is dragging yourself out of bed and putting outside clothes on, and going to school.

It means showing up for your classes and finding those missing assignments, so you don’t get a zero. It’s paying late fees and following up with teachers on how you can work to raise a bad grade.

It’s choosing to memorize that cellular structure or write that research paper, even though you’d much rather message with your soon-to-be roommate about how you’ll decorate your dorm.

It’s getting the sleep you need and taking care of your health, instead of staying up late FaceTiming friends or scrolling through TikTok to take your mind off things.

It’s doing the hard work of investing in what you need to accomplish in order to fulfill your greatest achievement.

And right now, getting that degree is the prize, it’s the ticket toward your future. It’s what must take center stage, despite all the frantic flurry going on in the wings.

And before you know it, this time will pass and you will be on your way…

And you will be so proud that you stayed in the race during this last stretch of the road. You’ll be so glad you finally made it to the finish line, where your world will open up to so many more races you will run in the future.

And when you face another final stretch of the road that is hard and bumpy and long, all the lessons you learned about staying the course despite your desire to pull off or veer another way, will be of good use to you. Because this phase you’re going through comes with the natural progression of growing up at the perfect time, teaching you what you need to learn most about adulthood.

A lot of life will be lived in this pull and push of transitions, feeling stuck and stifled, while waiting and worrying and wanting the next thing to come. It requires patience and endurance, sacrifice and hard work, and developing these attributes will bring you success in whatever you do.

So, keep your eyes on the prize, dear senior. Don’t lose sight of it, don’t give up, don’t let yourself down now. You’ve come too far to not run through that finish line to get to the other side, whatever you dream it to be.

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