With the end of the school year drawing near, both students and teachers are faced with the crippling effects of senioritis. Senioritis is best described as a decrease in motivation during a student’s last year in high school, growing worse as the end of the year approaches.

“It has a trickle-down effect,” said Paul Bonner, an art teacher at Manitou Springs High School (MSHS). “All the students become restless after spring break and when the weather gets warmer, they lose focus.” Bonner has taught at Manitou for many years.

In reference to the senioritis he deals with every year, Bonner quoted one of his favorite movies, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Seniors themselves were able to define and share their experiences with senioritis. “It’s a loss of motivation,” Hazel Mannery (12) said. “We’re so close to being done that literally, nothing matters so we end up just giving up.”

Anais Wickes (12) characterizes senioritis as students strongly showing a carefree attitude towards school and decreasing effort. Although the name references seniors, Wickes believes it affects all grade levels and teachers alike.

Though the end of the year draws close, many seniors take this time to reflect on past experiences during their high school career. Often times, seniors think of friends, teachers and funny occurrences they’ve encountered. “One of my funniest memories has to be the one time I fell down the stairs in the SILC building [my] sophomore year,” said Rebecca Borst (12). “I tripped and fell down the stairs, and the worst part is that nobody else saw.”

Sharing her own story, Mannery describes a time that she returned from lunch off-campus with friends. Following their return, each of them exited the car, only for them to all drop different parts of their lunch. The experience was embarrassing yet it held a lot of humor.

High school is a time of ups and downs, something seniors know very well. “Don’t get involved with the wrong people,” said Paige Smith (12). “[Also,] make sure to keep on top of your work and don’t wait until last minute and stress yourself out about it.”

As the year comes to an end, MSHS senioritis will be cured with graduation on May 19th at 1 p.m. “I will miss my friends most and, of course, I’ll miss Old Brown, Lane, and Bonner,” said Borst.