As the numbers on the calendar get closer to May 24 and the weather warms up, my handwriting gets sloppier, my deadlines approach faster and my fever increases. It’s official. I’m diagnosed. I have a severe case of senioritis.

“Characterized by a decline in motivation,” according to the Oxford Dictionary, senioritis is the paralyzing affliction that most high school seniors face as they begin to taste the freedom that awaits them post-graduation.

My first wave of senioritis hit last fall as college application deadlines approached. Tests got harder to study for, application deadlines approached faster with each passing day and I swear my car was on autopilot to the nearest coffee shop every school morning.  

My senioritis is in its strongest form this spring, as the distractions of winter and spring break are far behind and college decisions have hit my inbox.  Tests that would’ve taken an hour to study for last year now take three. Non-essential homework? Forget about it. My hand gets heavier and heavier each day when I try to turn off The Office to study yet lighter and lighter when I reach to hit the snooze button on my alarm.  The number of pages I can read without the urge to take a study break diminishes by the hour. There’s no end in sight.

Although all academic motivation has been drained from me with the light at the end of the tunnel in sight, the severity of my condition has made me aware of just how little time I have left of high school.  Despite my motivational deficiency, my senioritis has set in alongside a deep appreciation of my time left in high school and an excitement for what lies ahead.

Seniors who are suffering from senioritis: give yourself a break and enjoy what time you have left in these halls. Underclassmen: you have been warned.

Do you test positive for senioritis? Take the quiz here.