Whoever said senior year would be fun had no idea what they were talking about.
Underclassmen, enjoy your spare time while you can. Senior year isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, you may be able to justify partying and blowing off work by saying it’s a symptom of senioritis, but there’s more to be done than anyone will ever tell you.
As a second-semester senior, I was looking forward to taking it easy for once and savoring the last few months of this whirlwind experience we call college. Within the first week, though, I was slapped in the face with the harsh realization that this would be my hardest semester yet.
I’m faced with four upper-level classes, of which two are seminars, and nearly all require mountains of reading and intensive writing. If that wasn’t enough, I had to plan my schedule around when the classes I needed to take were, instead of how I could get the most sleep. Getting stuck with a class at 8:30 a.m. on Friday mornings isn’t what I had in mind.
If you’re one of the lucky ones who managed to dodge the bullet of having class on Fridays, you still have to deal with finishing up requirements, whether it be for your major or GenEds. How many seniors do you know who are taking Spanish 111 to finish up that dreaded language requirement?
Beyond the realm of academic stressors, there are a number of things every senior needs to do in order to actually receive a diploma. Seniors, have you met with your academic adviser yet? You may think you’ve fulfilled all your requirements, but you’d be surprised how many have slipped our minds as we danced on tables at Scoreboard.
What gave us the idea that senior year would be easy? This myth that has been circulating for ages couldn’t be more off-base; it leads to an unwarranted outbreak of senioritis among each graduating class. This plague couldn’t come at a worse time. Not only do we have a GPA to maintain, but for many of us, we have to think about next year.
For those of us planning on attending graduate school, there’s the application process to be wary of. You can’t slack off and miss deadlines and in many cases, a GPA that drops too low could cost you your seat at your dream school. For the rest of you, there’s a career to think of. The job hunt is in full swing and you’ve got to be on point if you want to score that great job.
Whichever path you take, one thing is certain: Next year you will no longer be able to hide behind the excuse that you’re a senior. That excuse goes out the window the day after graduation. You’ll just be another college graduate faced with the hardships of the real world. That means paying bills and showing up every morning. The habits of senioritis are hard to break and could get you in trouble with either your boss or professor.
If that isn’t enough to keep you motivated in your senior year, here’s another thought. If you don’t do well enough in your classes, you may not be allowed to graduate. Some departments require that you earn at least a C in your classes for them to count toward your major. If you don’t meet this, you won’t be able to fulfill the requirement and won’t be allowed to graduate in May. You could end up here for another semester if the class you need isn’t offered over the summer.
By no means am I advising you against having fun, especially in your last year here. But you have to be conscious of everything that needs to be done in order to graduate. There’s a common misconception about senior year that has been spread around for years. For some lucky students, senior year may be the easiest. But for the rest of us, this just isn’t so.