As second semester begins at De Soto High School, many students in the senior class are beginning to realize how close they are to finishing high school. With graduation approaching, many students are beginning to suffer from senioritis, a disease that has affected senior classes at DHS for years. 

Senioritis is a condition brought on by the long rigorous journey of high school slowly coming to an end, causing many seniors to fall out of their routines and take school much less seriously. Put simply, these students are so ready to graduate and begin their new lives that they find it difficult to focus on their current high school studies. 

The seasonal senioritis pandemic has taken a toll on the current senior class at DHS, especially due to the additional stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether seniors are going to school or completing their high school careers fully online, all students in the senior class are at risk for the disease. 

Unfortunately, many students at DHS know at least one person suffering from senioritis, as it is a highly contagious disease, especially following the first semester. It is estimated that one in three seniors in the 2021 class suffer from the contagion. While some underclassmen have been known to contract the sickness, senioritis disproportionately impacts seniors each and every year. 

Although the disease is highly contagious, treatment is relatively easy to follow, and the condition can be cured in little time. To begin, one must look at their routine and consider changing some things around if they want to finish their high school career positively. Falling into a routine is extremely easy, especially for seniors, so it’s important as the year wraps up to not do the same things day in and day out.

Contracting senioritis often causes students to become bored and unfocused in their work. Given the importance of their final semester at DHS, these symptoms become a big issue for the aspiring graduates. Students suffering from the condition have a greater chance of procrastinating on projects, essays and homework than the average student, while also having less than half the capacity to show up on time to class or participate while in those classes. 

For these students, high school has become a chore, simply something they have to do, not something they would like to do. Students like these are the ones who need to be reminded how far they have come and just how close they are to being able to step into their new lives. 

In a few short months, the seniors will be attending their graduation, some of them seeing each other for the last time. Going through high school is a journey, but it doesn’t last any longer than four years, and that’s what makes this semester so important for the senior class. The willpower of all the seniors in the class of 2021 has been tested all year, and now,  the home stretch is where we will truly have to prove to ourselves how much we’ve grown up.