Well, it’s the second semester, which means if senioritis hasn’t kicked in, consider yourself lucky. Many seniors have self-diagnosed since their sophomore year (or earlier), but now it has reached a new high. Classes are emptier, tardies are later and missing assignments continue to overtake Aeries. This epidemic has overtaken the senior class, and the few seniors I found still present at school can attest to this.
Before seniors share their thoughts on senioritis, English teacher Ms. B ‘16 continues to witness and suffer from the effects of senioritis. She shares, “At this point in the year, some of my English IV classes are running at about a 50% attendance rate. Many students are marked as ill in Aeries, but I didn’t know that senioritis counted as an excused illness. Academic progress emails are due this Friday, and I have at least 10 F’s simply due to missing assignments. Get well soon!” Sounds like seniors need to get to Ms. B’s class and start working on their missing assignments.
While no one is at school, responding to their emails is the last thing any senior is doing right now. Whether you know what college you will be attending in the fall or not, applications are mostly done,
essays have been written and first semester’s grades are over.
One senior I found was Delilah Moos, who shared how senioritis is impacting her. Delilah shares, “Every day feels like the next day can’t get worse, and it always does.” The motivation she gives herself is to “make it to the weekend… she says on a Monday.” We could all probably resonate with this remark, as the start of a new week is never easy. Another senior, Maddie Lambros, said, “Senioritis can’t hit me because if it does, it’s wraps.” Unfortunately, most seniors have already been hit and have no hope for recovery.
One of the most common causes of senioritis is due to finishing all college applications and relieving yourself from all the stress it causes. Tahlia Jain ‘26 resonates with this and shares, “Now that college apps are done, I’m not motivated, I’m tired and after Red & Gold, I will be 100% ready to graduate.” If this doesn’t describe how the senior class is feeling, I am not sure what does! Red & Gold seems to be the only activity worth using energy for and keeping the year moving.
When I asked other seniors if they felt they had been hit by the epidemic, they shared their experiences. Emma Muse ‘26 shared she has “had senioritis since junior year” and is “slowly recovering; the only thing helping me get through it is knowing I have a few months left.” Knowing there are only a few months left seems to be the motivation for seniors. Another senior, Sophia Barrera, said, “We’re not there yet. I will say that it is a matter of a race, and I’m still running faster.” I love this comparison she used and her confidence to finish the year strong!
As I finish this article, I can strongly attest that even this was hard to find the motivation to complete as each week drags along. Senioritis comes in strong every year, and the whole campus notices once there are fewer seniors every day. If you made it to the end of this article, your attention span is just fine, and there is still hope for you to make it to the end of the year.
Emma Muse • Feb 12, 2026 at 9:42 am
stay strong, royals.