But as my mother drove to the front of the school and unlocked the door, I couldn’t get out. I was almost in tears.
Confused, my mother let me sit for a few moment, but eventually I had to leave. High school was a scary place, but like most things, it took some getting used to. I learned to love freshman year, and high school became enjoyable. By the time I was a senior, it seemed unimaginable that I was in my last year of the environment I had become so familiar with in the past four years.
While the fall was filled with excitement and novelty, I was hit with an incurable disease that spread like the plague. I had senioritis, and high school suddenly became boring and overdone. And while I continue to force myself to attend class on time and do my homework, thoughts of prom, graduation and college flood my mind.
And so, I present unto you, the top 10 things you become bored of by senior year.
10. Reading
I decided to take AP Literature and Composition my senior year because I have always loved to read. We read Greek plays and works of Shakespeare and short stories. And, at first, I was enthused. But as the year waned on, I stopped reading and started Sparknoting. Now, Sparknoting, unfortunately, is nothing new to me. However, I realized I had a problem when I was too lazy to even read the Sparknotes. As hard as I try, reading is just too plain and tedious to focus on at this point in my high school career.
9. Listening
This one goes along with reading. If I can’t even keep the attention span to read my assignments or the cheat-sheets for my homework, then how am I supposed to listen during school? While one moment I will be incredibly focused and fascinated with integrals and antiderivatives, the next I’ll realize that my thoughts have wandered on to whether or not I locked my car or what I should eat for dinner that night or whether or not I should take a nap after school. By mid-senior year, listening just becomes too much.
8. Doing extra credit
I’ve always held the philosophy of always doing extra credit, no matter what my grade was. And, up until this year, I have stuck to my philosophy. But when you’re in the middle of senior year and have been self-diagnosed with senioritis, why on earth would you want to do extra work? The answer is you don’t.
7. Studying
In the weeks leading up to midterms, I usually spend weeks preparing. This year, I had three rather large potential grade-changing finals to study for. Out of the three, I studied for one, and I studied for a solid hour and a half. It was definitely not responsible of me, but at the time, and to this day, that moment makes me incredibly proud since that hour and a half was the only time I ever studied all year.
6. College Emails
When I received my first college email at the end of sophomore year, I was absolutely ecstatic. It was a sign of growing up, and I was definitely ready to be considered an adult. I kept every single letter that came in the mail, and I would always take the time to read every single email that had anything to do with life after high school. But by the time you’re a senior, and you’ve already made your decision on what college you’ll be attending, it all becomes annoying and unnecessary.
5. Coming to school on time
When I was in elementary school, my pride and joy was the fact that every year at the end-of-the-year assembly, the principal would call my name to the stage and hand me my Perfect Attendance award. I received it in first, second, fourth and fifth grade and was in tears when I was missed a day of school in third grade because I had to get glasses. My ability to always be punctual and never be late was something I believed was one of my greatest qualities. However, when senior year comes, there is no harder struggle than getting out of bed in the morning. And as hard as it is to get my feet on the floor, it’s even harder to get to school on time. Coming to school on time just becomes tedious and annoying, and the reality of stepping into class late when the teacher has already begun teaching is not as terrifying as it was in elementary school.
4. Looking nice for school
When it’s hard to get up for school, it’s impossible to look nice. When senioritis hits, forget dresses and skirts and cute shoes, hoodies and sweatpants become your go-to outfit.
3. Taking required classes
When you’re a freshman, 24 credits to graduate doesn’t seem difficult to accomplish. Take a few English classes, take a few history classes, take a few math classes — eventually, you’ll be done. But deciding to delay taking classes like gym and personal finance and government can really put a downer on your senior year. Instead of taking enjoyable classes your senior year, you’re stuck walking laps in fitness walking (not that that’s not a good trade-off for a P.E. credit).
2. Cafeteria food
Senior year can take a toll on your pocketbook. After three years of cafeteria food, a fourth just doesn’t seem doable. And then there are options such as Panera, Jimmy John’s and Okii Mama that are obviously better than cafeteria food. I think you know where I’m going with this.
1. Doing homework
Senior year is just an excuse to not do homework. There’s something more appealing about sitting in your basement Sunday night, watching an endless array of movies on Netflix and eating countless bags of popcorn, instead of doing the pile of homework sitting in your room. And that’s the dirty truth about senior year.
By Jacqueline LeBlanc
