Students struggle in the grip of senioritis

A mass epidemic has snuck up on the Yuba City High School campus this winter. It can be observed in teens enjoying Taco Bell breakfast on a Tuesday at 10:30 in the morning, or at the movie theater catching a midnight showing of "Star Wars: Episode 1 3-D" on a Thursday night. The virus: senioritis. The victims: seniors at YCHS.

A solid definition of senioritis can be found in the Urban Dictionary: "noun. A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation."

I asked students to share their worst senioritis stories. Vanessa Lopez, responding to a Facebook status, shared, "I should be showered and working on 'Heart of Darkness' for the essay test tomorrow, but I've just been sleeping with my dogs for three hours, still chlorine-y from swim practice."

Needless to say, lack of studying and focus in the classroom can lead to a serious decline in grade point average. Sara Sadler responded to my question: "I was a straight-A student until this year. I don't know what happened. I just started feeling sleepier during school, like I didn't get enough sleep, even though I made sure that I did. I didn't see the point in doing any of the work. I ended up with terrible grades, and now I have to make up a bunch of stuff in order to graduate."

Kevin Lewis said, "Procrastination is only fun if there's something you're avoiding." In other words, StumbleUpon would not be nearly as entertaining without a calculus test the following morning.

Kevin has a full schedule this week. He said, "I have seven tests over four classes, all during a four-day week. I'm finding it difficult to muster the effort to study for any of them. Come to think of it, I probably have eight tests, but I haven't been to fourth period all week."

It seems that the disease has spread to some underclassmen as well. When asked if he was showing early symptoms of senioritis, junior Brandon Taylor said, "Yeah, I'm skipping art right now."

But what is it that causes this dreaded malady? Mandip Dosanjh provided a very viable explanation: "You work hard for three years, then you get to senior year. You try hard and you apply to college, then it gets really hard to care. I know where I'm going after high school; I know where I'm getting accepted. By the time 'Heart of Darkness' rolled around, I pretty much gave up completely."

I turned in this column two days late, but it's senior year, so ... I'll blame it on the senioritis. The serious consequences of laziness and procrastination can flow into our personal lives and cripple our work ethic.

It's important that, in these last few months of schooling, we remain conscious of our goals and objectives. If not, all of our hard work may result in nothing, and our opportunities may slip through our fingers without us even noticing.

Greg Geraldo is a senior at Yuba City High School. His column appears every six weeks in Education.