“Senioritis: n. 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.” -Urban Dictionary

Many of us mention senioritis as a passing joke, but nobody ever explores the underlying causes of the subject. Teachers, administrators and parents wonder quietly to themselves whether it is their own fault that the will to learn dies out in students by the second half of senior year. I do not believe that students are simply losing the will to learn. I believe that while there is a noticeable trend in attitudes against education, there is no truth to the idea that seniors are incapable of learning in their final year of high school.
I am a senior, and I have seen much of what public school has to offer.  I have seen shortcomings in myself as well as the system around me. I realize that the problem of senioritis exists because we seniors have lost our belief that education, at this point, can help us in our future careers. This is not helped by the common view held by seniors that senior year is inconsequential. With college loans, employment, and an overall tight economy looming ahead, it may be hard for a senior to focus on the number of bones in the foot or the definition of “didacticism”.
When you are forced to listen to a lecture about the subtleties of a literary motif while thoughts of college loans and living expenses nag your mind, what you are hearing becomes less important. The problem boils down to this: with college, internships, and employment hanging just around the corner, I cannot help but feel that perhaps we students have not found much being taught in the curriculum that can help us in the near future. The roots of senioritis do not lie solely in students, parents, or teachers. The fault lies in the fact that we no longer learn for the sake of learning, but for bolstering our grade point averages.
The solution ahead seems clear: we have to change the curriculum of the senior year to allow students to decide what they need for the upcoming future. The sensible option is to start placing more and more responsibilities in the hands of the seniors to manage their own choices of classes.
Also, teachers should replace typical tests and assignments with activities and projects that openly engage the minds of students, rather than letting them stay in a seat to let their mind rot away. No student can be taught how to aspire to greater things if they have no chance to prove their capabilities to themselves. If they do not get that chance, then there is no hope for a cure.
Written by HESAM MODARESI
Staff Writer