Beware! Senioritis is Here.

As the year draws to a close, an infectious disease has been spreading, afflicting the oldest students of Northwest Academy: senioritis.

“[Senioritis] is when seniors are truly done with high school and they think they’re ready to move on,” Julia Cain, Registrar and College Counselor, said. “The effect of senioritis is that [seniors] think that they don’t have to do their work or continue take classes and follow the rules.”

Although senioritis may not be lethal, it certainly can be detrimental.

“It’s embarrassing to admit, and I don’t like to admit it, but you don’t care as much about some of the work and you become a little bit lethargic,” Jack Brebner, a senior, said. “I’m not passing calc. and Marcy [England] wrote on one of my homeworks, ‘Is senioritis catching you?’”

Symptoms include a lack of focus, procrastination and a higher tendency to not do work, as well as a desire to spend more social time with classmates.

“[Our seniors have] been with a very small group of classmates for three and a half years, some of them have been together since 6th grade, and I think what they’re looking for is more time as a group to be with each other because they realize that pretty soon they’re all going to be spreading out across the country,” Scott Kerman, Associate Head of School and father of senior Jared, said. “I think part of the senioritis is a turn from the classroom experience with their classmates to the outside of the classroom experience with their classmates.”

Senioritis can be caused by a number of things, but many agree that the excitement to move on to college mixed with an anxiety of entering the ‘real world’ are at its root.

“They’re clinging to the past of their childhood, they’re longing for the freedom of adulthood and they’re still here at 12th and Main,” David Wagstaff, Dean of Students, said.

Seniors seem to agree with this sentiment.

“I’m just so excited for a new life, going up to college, that I can’t really wait any longer,” Connor Johnson, a senior, said. “I want to start something new.”

Senioritis is not limited to Northwest Academy; it can be seen in schools across the world.

“Every senior everywhere in every school gets senioritis, it’s not just Northwest Academy,” Cain said.

Though it can be problematic, senioritis is widely viewed as very normal.

“I think it’s a natural thing to have it,” Kerman said. “What we can do as a school is help [seniors] focus on their academic responsibilities and the idea that if you take your foot off the gas too much it might be hard, when they get to college, to get back up to speed.”

Younger students also notice symptoms of senioritis in their 12th grade classmates.

“The two seniors in my french class are constantly late, I mean we all are, but they are especially,” Grace Ettinger, a sophomore, said.

Charlotte Wilson-Kolp, a sophomore, has had similar experiences with seniors in her classes.

“They drop a lot of classes at the semester mark or don’t take a lot of academic classes in the first place and don’t do their homework on time,” Wilson-Kolp said.

Some younger students also feel a form of senioritis, though not to the same extent.

“I get tired of school and put things off until the last minute, but I don’t drop classes or anything,” Wilson-Kolp said. “For the most part I can keep up appearances.”

Many of the staff at Northwest Academy have offered tips to prevent or help with senioritis.

“Just keep doing what has been successful up to this point,” Kerman said. “Sure you might want to ease up a little bit and that’s natural, but try not to change what’s worked for you too drastically.”

Cain puts an emphasis on the importance of seniors following through on their work.

“It always amazes me to see people work so hard for three and a half years and then just stop; I don’t understand that,” Cain said. “My tip is, you don’t get to just stop doing things; if you take a class you need to finish the class, if you get hired in a job you can’t just not work because you have a break coming up.”

Cain also recommends that students don’t take Northwest Academy for granted.

“I think students just need to remember that the time will come and just enjoy [Northwest Academy] while you have it, because a lot of people really miss this place when they’re gone. Just take it one day at a time.”

However some staff also feel that it is important for a senior to not overwork themselves.

“Have fun on the weekends and forget about school,” Wagstaff said. “Don’t think about your education and future all the time. Politely tell your parents to leave you alone, you’ll take care of it yourself. And relax and finally really appreciate the fact that you’ve gone to a really good school and what lies ahead is a grand adventure.

Wagstaff also has his own methods of dealing with students with senioritis.

“When I talk to students with senioritis, sometimes their teachers refer them to me, I read them a verse or two from the Tao Te Ching, emphasize the importance of living in the moment and reassure them that senior year is not eternal, it only feels that way,” Wagstaff said. “You have to encourage them to be patient and also empathize with them because we all are in situations from time to time that we were anxious to get out of.