Are you a high school senior who’s feeling unmotivated, unproductive, and tired? Have you already submitted your college applications and are waiting for “real life” to begin? If you answered “yes” to at least two of these symptoms, you may have Senioritis. 

For those unaware, Senioritis is an affliction affecting students in their final year of high school and is characterized by a decline in motivation and/or performance. As a senior, I have been able to experience this epidemic firsthand. I have to admit that I, along with many of my classmates, have fallen ill with this severe disease. Today, I wanted to educate all of my struggling seniors on steps they can take to combat Senioritis. 

1. Create support groups: Understand that you are not alone in this. Seniors all around the world are struggling with this same disease. Creating a support group with your friends can allow you all to hold each other accountable. Let’s face it: writing down assignments in an agenda isn’t going to do much when faced with a disease as crippling as senioritis. You and your friends can hold weekly meetings to make sure no one is falling behind on assignments because–trust me–once you’re behind it only gets worse!
   
2. Utilize your study hall: I know what you’re thinking: study hall was created to give you a break from your rigorous classes, and you deserve to spend some time talking to your friends. That may seem true; however, using thirty minutes of your study hall to review Ms. Baker’s LIT terms can be the difference between passing and failing. 
   
3. Set Goals: Start small so as not to overwhelm yourself. The smaller the goal, the better. If you work towards small victories every day, you’ll be caught up on all of your work for the week. Procrastinating only makes you spend more energy in one night trying to finish all of your assignments. There is no sense in using too much energy; I mean, you are a senior for crying out loud, and energy is a precious commodity. 
   
4. Reward yourself: No victory is a small victory. You got out of bed 15 minutes before you are supposed to leave for school? Congratulations! Now you have time to wash your face, eat breakfast, and wear something other than your pajamas to school, so you deserve that cookies and cream milkshake from Chick-Fil-A. Rewarding even the smallest of victories will cause you to repeat that behavior. Once you’ve had 30 milkshakes, you will have made a habit of changing out of your sweatpants in the mornings. The same goes for good grades: For every test you earn a B or higher on, find a way to reward yourself for a job well done.
   
5. Take Breaks: Pace yourself when studying. You know what they say about the tortoise and the hare: slow and steady wins the race. In this case, we are the tortoise, and the race is making it to graduation. If you study for more than 10 minutes, you deserve that Tik-Tok break. After all, 10 minutes is a very long time. The truth is, you can never have too many breaks. Just kidding, make sure you are working towards a goal but giving yourself time to rest will help you to feel less burnt out. 
   
6. Appreciate the time you have left at RMA: In all seriousness, May will be here before you know it, and more than a few of us will be crying on graduation day. The world beyond Rocky Mount and Rocky Mount Academy may seem more exciting, but one day you’ll miss this time spent with the people you’ve grown up with. Take it all in you’re only a senior once.