Senioritis (n.)?A state of complete inability to motivate oneself to do work; characterized by frequent trips to the local bar, "Happy Hour" starting at noon, and frequent bouts of panic and/or elation at the thought of next year.
One often hears talk about the pitfalls of senior year. According to www.collegeseniors.net, "It has been said that no year of college is more difficult than that endured by seniors." The combination of high-level classes, concern about plans for the future, and the desire to spend time with those we may never see again contribute to a very difficult year for seniors. Because of this, many students become afflicted with the phenomenon of senioritis, meaning they seem to just kind of give up on caring about schoolwork. While it certainly is not something to be proud of, senioritis tends to be one of those things you just can't avoid in college, like cheap beer, all night study sessions, and burning when you pee.
Senioritis comes in two main forms. The first manifests itself in students who have not yet found a job for the next year, or who don't have definite plans of any sort beyond their next drink. These students are fine for most of the year, but around mid-March or so find themselves gripped by an overwhelming panic. They spend hours upon hours carefully perusing job listings on eBear, trying to convince themselves that, "Hey, cleaning the cages of mating zoo animals wouldn't be that bad for a year, right...?" Consumed by this devotion to job searching, students ignore their class work, instead opting to Google "legal assistant, NY" just one more time, praying something new comes up between the 243rd and 249th results. Professors may respond tenderly at first, allowing students to miss classes for interviews, or listening patiently to excuses about being too stressed to do the reading. At some point though, their patience will run thin, and students will start getting notes to the effect of, "Dear student: You have missed the last four classes for 'interviews.' Take the hint. Work at McDonalds. P.S.?You owe 50 pages worth of papers."
The second form of senioritis is demonstrated by those on the opposite end of the spectrum?those who already have jobs. Secure in that knowledge, these students suddenly and virulently lose all motivation to do anything related to school. This doesn't mean that students no longer are interested in learning?call me na?ve, but I would say most Bowdoin students actually desire to learn and to acquire knowledge. Instead, students are no longer interested in the mundane aspects of school?the long reading assignments, five-page papers, or quizzes to "test your knowledge of the readings." After four (possibly more, for us "special" students) years of being in college, students who finally reach their goal of being gainfully employed are ready to sit back, relax, and celebrate their success. Tests and papers only get in the way, particularly when compared to the important tasks such as deciding what wallpaper to decorate the new apartment with, or what brands to stock the new bar with first.
So, is there no hope for us seniors? Should we and everyone around us simply resign ourselves to the fact that we will not be interested in doing school work? While students may be nodding their heads in assent to this proposition, I would imagine most professors and parents would not react so kindly. I think "violent anger" might be a more apt term to describe their reaction. Thus, to avoid such negative consequences as "failing out of school" or "being disowned by parents and eating out of the trash," it is important that students fight against this urge to give up on work during senior year. Relax a bit, certainly; have a few extra drinks, definitely; but for the sake of those around us, get the work done as well.