It’s been four years full of stress, drama, and exhaustion, and now that seniors’ final midterm exams are completed, the burnout peak has arrived. Many students know and “love” this lack of motivation and readiness to graduate from high school, as senioritis. Seniors like to simply think of “senioritis” as a high school burnout: feeling ready to move forward, meet new people, and explore what life looks like after highschool. And although burnouts are always normal, senior year feels like the peak of this exhaustion. 

Senior, Molly Sweet, has felt checked out since the beginning of the school year. 

“It hit at the beginning of the year for me, but especially after midterms I really checked out,” said Sweet. 

For a lot of students such as Sweet, senioritis began at the start of senior year; however, when it really hits the most, is after midterms. Once the second semester starts, it becomes much more difficult to find motivation, especially for high school. Many colleges and universities have already sent out acceptance letters, so right now, seniors are focused more on life after high school. 

“I’m just really ready to graduate, like I’ve already got accepted into colleges, so I’m done,” said Sweet. 

Now that seniors like Sweet are already accepted and committed to schools, high school isn’t top priority anymore. Students are now more focused on choosing roommates and figuring out what classes to take for their first year of college. 

For other students like Lana Poulin, there is still just some motivation to finish off the last year of high school. 

“I really try to have a balance. I try and get my work done and on time, while also having fun outside of school,” said Poulin. 

So, for many students, it’s still important to maintain a balance with senior year. Many AP and ECE classes are still extremely demanding, so although it’s important to take a break, there is still priority over more demanding subjects. However, with more study halls and electives in many seniors’ schedules, this balance is definitely easier to maintain in comparison to the challenges of junior year. It can even be said that this academic break during senior year is well deserved after the exhaustion of junior year.

Ultimately, the senior year burnout is absolutely real and because of it, a lot of students are more ready to finally start fresh and look forward to the new experiences of college.