As my first block teacher hands me my progress report, I barely take the time to read it. I stuff it in my bag and leave class. Later as I’m clearing out my bag, I take a closer look. There, almost screaming at me, is a big fat 67. Oh no. My mother is going to kill me. Not only is it a failing grade but it is in a somewhat easy class.

As I look at all of the zeros going down the page, I think about how I could have possibly missed all of those assignments. I mean I RARELY miss school. Hmm…the shark dichotomous key assignment looked familiar. Oh yeah, I slept on it.

That’s when it hits me. I didn’t miss these assignments. I used them as pillows as I openly slept in class. As soon as the paper hit my desk, they acted as a sort of barrier between the cold wooden top of my desk and my face.

I had caught a nasty case of Senioritis. It kinda snuck up on me, ya know? I wasn’t expecting my grades to plummet. Now there is only one way to fix it, beg my teachers to help me out and avoid getting killed by my mother.

I got a list together of everything I had missed and finished it with amazing speed. I turned it all in by the end of the day and watched my grade go from failing to a really comfortable 90.

What is senioritis? The main symptoms of senioritis include procrastination, lack of motivation, a drop in academic performance, a desire to drop out of school, and just coasting through classes and doing the bare minimum.

Some students aren’t so lucky to be slapped in the face by reality at the first stages of this illness. Some get all the way to graduation day, and THEN are hit with the fact that they won’t be able to walk across the stage with their classmates.

But don’t worry while there is no cure for senioritis at the moment, there are ways to avoid letting it take over your whole senior career. Make a fresh start. If your classes become overwhelming, tell your teachers, explain to them that is was your fault you were so far behind and you are trying to catch up. Teachers are more than likely to help you out if you just took the time to have a conversation with them.

And if you don’t mind suffering from senioritis, that’s cool too. You will just be a senior again next year. As for me, as much as I love it, I will only attend my senior year at high school, ONCE.