Commentary by Celine Castronuovo

Senioritis: the dreaded yet inevitable state of being that takes hold during one’s senior year of high school. It is commonly perceived as a period of laziness, absences, and failing grades after one has received a college acceptance. However, I have gathered from my own experiences that senioritis begins much earlier in the school year and it, in fact, evolves through a series of differentiating stages.

• Euphoria: The lethargic manner usually associated with senior year begins as a form of excitement as seniors rightfully accept their place atop the hierarchy that is high school. Senior dress up days, spirit week, and graduation seem so close as you look at the new incoming freshmen and see how far you have come. On my first senior blackout, being able to run around campus with all of my classmates, screaming at the underclassmen, brought me a sense of euphoria that is indescribable unless one has experienced it for themselves. I felt on top of the world.  Nothing could touch me.

• Oh crap, I’m still in high school: I soon fell off of cloud nine and landed hard right into my loads of homework and responsibilities. The perception of senior year being the most easy-going, stress free year of high school was soon dismissed. I realized that the workload is still the same, if not more, and teachers just don’t seem to take into account the long list of college essays that still need to be completed. This, coupled with my officer positions and extracurricular activities, definitely led to me to have a few minor panic attacks.  

• I’ll just drop out and join the circus: The countless hours put into essays, writing supplements, and resumes begin to seem futile, creating a very overwhelming college application process. The careless aspect of senioritis begins to take form as a sense of hope begins to diminish. There were many times, because of this, where I found the prospect of joining the circus much more appealing than going off to a prestigious university.

• The waiting game: After completing what I thought to be the impossible (my college applications), I then waited in a cloud of uncertainty for college decisions to come out. The anticipation is enough to drive anyone mad. The climactic stage of laziness struggles to be kept within oneself, as it really isn’t socially acceptable to start slacking until you have actually been accepted into a college.

• Why am I still in high school?: You finally receive your first college acceptance and nature allows the lethargy to kick into full swing. This acceptance into a higher-level institution suddenly gives you an aura of maturity and you begin to wonder why you are still sharing the halls with naive 15-year-olds. While others continue to focus on petty high school drama, I am already thinking about the real issues: how I will be decorating my dorm room in the fall.

• When’s graduation?: The sluggish attitude that has developed throughout the school year reaches a whole new level of inactivity that is characterized by such a professional degree of procrastination there should be a certification offered for it. The only thing that keeps me going as I conduct hypothesis tests for AP Statistics and write analysis essays for AP Literature is that graduation date running through my head: May 20.

 
Nostalgia: The days lost in anticipation to walk across that stage begin to fade away as reality hits: I am leaving this all behind in six months. That droning voice of my mom constantly repeating “Why do you want to leave me?” has begun to strike significant meaning with me. I look at my friends, my teachers, and this beautiful school I have had the privilege of attending the last four years of my life. The only thing that will come with me are the memories: the old man doing tricks on the motorcycle freshman year, playing in Carnegie Hall with the Dreyfoos orchestra, joining The Muse, and finally having the chance to hold that spirit stick in my hands. With all this nostalgia, you begin to realize that maybe you should have avoided getting caught up in the senioritis phenomenon.