Senioritis is a phenomenon that a lot of seniors in high school experience throughout their final year. It is characterized by a decline in motivation or performance in the classroom or even around campus during lunch and break. Buena Park High School has had a lot of seniors undergo this condition. It’s more of a placebo effect since it doesn’t necessarily affect students physically.
The first documented report of Senioritis was in 1907 by a Chicago magazine. People say that the only “cure” for senioritis is graduating, but there are a few things that can help before graduation.
Getting enough sleep is a huge part of this. Lots of students stay up late and/or wake up early, which makes them very tired during the school day. Students zone out or doze off during class due to a lack of sleep. Not paying attention in class like this will cause students to miss lessons, therefore, they will not be able to understand the homework. This is how senioritis may start forming. Sleep is important!
Creating healthy habits will make a significant difference to your school life. Study 30 minutes every night, do your homework during class if possible, and raise your hand to try answering questions. Students tend to forget to study, procrastinate on homework, and not pay attention or participate during class. Doing any of the healthy habits listed above could help you focus more and get higher grades.
Turn off or put away your phone during class and/or school hours. Often, student get distracted by their devices during class, lessons, study hall, etc. Putting away or turning off your device will allow you to focus better. It will also help you connect with your peers more easily, as you are not just staring at the screen of your device. This engages face-to-face conversations and a higher focus.
We searched around the school for seniors to interview on this topic to gather opinions.
The first senior we interviewed was Oswaldo Molina. We asked him if he still feels connected to the school. He doesn’t feel connected as much as he did when he first got to high school. With no connection to the school, he hasn’t felt happy coming to school as much. This might correlate to the lack of motivation that people call “Senioritis”. We then asked him if he’s had days when he just wants to stay home. He responded with, “Yes, I want to stay home because the assignments are easy to do. You don’t have to be in the classroom. It’s a waste of time because after you’re done with the assignment, you just get on your phone for the rest of the period.” He doesn’t feel the need to be in class when assignments can just be done at home.
The next senior we interviewed was Mario Rosa. He’s in Automotive and has many career trips to different college campuses and places relating to automotive technology. We asked him if his electives still make him feel connected to BPHS, and he told us that he still does feel some connection. He enjoys coming to school and participating in many events from his electives. He doesn’t feel the need to stay home since he has many things to do at school due to his classes.
These two interviews contrast with the previous interview. There might be a correlation between having electives and being more involved with the high school. Electives like Automotive and JROTC have weekly and monthly events and field trips. Automotive recently went to the Peterson Museum, a museum full of customized cars and trucks on display. JROTC had a field trip to the Long Beach Airport, where they had the opportunity to ride alongside a pilot and even control the airplane during the flight.
We also interviewed one more senior, Anahi Castro. We asked if she feels connected to this school, to which she responded, “ I do personally feel connected to this school as I have been here for a while and spent a lot of time participating in theater.” Usually, Anahi feels happy coming to school because she likes the routine and really enjoys learning in robotics class and theater class. She does not really have many days where she wants to stay at home unless a very personal family matter affects her enough to make her unable to do any classwork.
In conclusion, many seniors have divided opinions on whether or not they should go to school and enjoy their final year of high school, or if they should stay at home and cut off high school early. It all depends on the individual student and their own personal beliefs and motivation. Hopefully, more electives and clubs in the future can help students at BPHS have a better and more involved experience at the high school.
