Gallery • 3 Photos

Emily Waite

Lily Glass (22) falls asleep during her science class to avoid doing her work. *photo illustration

As Manitou Springs High School’s Class of 2023 finishes their last first semester of high school, Senioritis is rapidly spreading. The post-COVID-19 revival and reopening of schools to a semi-normal climate makes students feel burnt out, overwhelmed and mentally exhausted. 

Senioritis, defined by Urban Dictionary, is “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.”

While the looming thought of finals sweeps through the mindset of seniors, most of the Class of 2023 has never taken finals. Starting off high school, their first year was overtaken by COVID, which progressed through their junior year. Eventually, the world began to reopen as they entered their senior year, making it even more stressful than they were not accustomed to normal school workloads and final exams. 

Since the senior class has never had these finals, they have also never learned how to properly study for extensive testing. They have been given an excuse for the past several years and have not succumbed to the reality that there is no way to escape these daunting tests.

This stress has bloomed into a lack of determination and desire to fulfill their academic potential. Even teachers have noticed a change in the mindset of their students. While Senioritis is a common thing most high schoolers experience as they wrap up their final high school academic year, the MSHS Class of 2023 seems to be experiencing it the most.

There are many different mindsets that are going around the class of 2023. Students are trying new ways to manipulate their test scores or mindlessly “full sending” their finals.  

Students have been implementing poor behaviors into their everyday routines. In the halls of MSHS, students can be seen disrespecting fellow students and teachers, skipping classes and sharing homework for the benefit of minimal effort being put into their bookwork. 

While the light at the end of the tunnel for most seniors is graduating in May of 2023, most students have committed to higher education or other kinds of work-based career paths, emphasizing students’ lack of determination to finish the school year strong. Students are ready for their next step in life but hesitate to realize they still have to finish this final chapter. 

While high school is deemed one of the best and worst times in people’s lives, students’ interpersonal skills have seemed to decrease. In contrast, students have no longer put up a fake persona of being kind to other students and, in return, have become blatantly honest. 

The primary feeling that students have, which is associated with Senioritis, is the feeling of being worn out. The Class of 2023 has been through a global pandemic, transitioning between online schooling, hybrid learning and cohort schedules; they have simply been through a challenging high school experience. 

Many students see relief in Winter Break, and both students and teachers hope that the Class of 2023 comes back refreshed and ready to expedite the remainder of their high school education. 

Seniors, we have one semester left. And, while we all understand these challenges, let’s strive to finish out this last semester with dignity and a dose of fun.

Like Drake says, “Tables turn, bridges burn, you live and learn.”