I am physically and emotionally exhausted from school. I have not been motivated to accomplish anything for any class recently unless it is absolutely necessary. I have also seen a slight, however present, decline in my grades since the beginning of second semester. I was complaining about this situation the other day with my friends. One of them laughed and then said, “Early onset senoritis.” They meant it as a joke, as many people typically joke about it. However, I sat there dumbfounded because that sounded exactly right. Just to be sure, I looked up the definition. According to Physcologist Carl Pickhardt, Ph. D, senioritis is a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance. This is usually caused by social and developmental factors.

Everthing in this definition fits how I am feeling now. The only falsity I found though, is that I am two years too early. I am only a sophomore, and have a long period of time before I am in my last year of high school. When I got to thinking about how I feel now compared to past years, I realized that I feel this in some degree each school year, right around this time. My grades and motivation typically dip and I lose focus in my school work. I always get to the point where I am over the tedious work, and routine days. However, I know that I cannot be the only person who feels this way.

I brought the topic up around all sorts of people, from the sophomore, junior and senior classes. The majority said they experience this feeling as well. This led me to believe that there are degrees of senioritis each year but it is the strongest during senior year.

I (again) took to the internet. This topic has come up many times in blogs, forums and online chat rooms.  In fact, the questions are asked so often that they have caused people to create solutions. The terms sophomoritis and junioritis have been created to answer the questions many seem to have about the topic. Once I realized these terms exsited, I immediately began looking for their official definitions. I however, could not find definitions from reliable sources, but from using reword like Urbandictionary and DefineThis.com, I have created my own definitions.

Sophomoritis: when a high school sophomore has become accustomed to their high school routine. The common factors that lead up to this are laziness and gradual decline in motivation to complete school work. This is the direct definition that describes what I am feeling.

Junioritis: when a junior in high school is extremely stressed frequently due to the realization they graduate in under a year. They become extremely disinterested in school work and pack on a heavy load of extracurriculars for college applications.

Both of these conditions I feel are build ups to the hit of senioritis. In talking with upperclassmen Elliot Fisher ‘19 I realized the real defining factor of senioritis is college. “I do not care about some classes because it is the last year of high school and I have already been accepted into college,” Fisher said.

Many students who are not seniors show symptoms of senioritis. However, senioritis is slightly different as it included elements including college. There are definitions and terms being made to accommodate the senioritis-like feeling many younger kids feel.  I have self-diagnosed myself with sophomoritis, but I know I’ll be fine in a few weeks. Do not let senioritis, junioritis or sophomoritis get the best of your and your high school years. If you are severely struggling they are coping mechanisms and so called cures being formulated. You are not alone in these feelings.