The Collegian

Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Myles Sandrian

With only a few more tests, a few more walks up the hill, a few more parties, a few more formal dances and a few more papers to write, Hillsdale seniors are ready - mentally - to don their caps and gowns and walk across the aisle to snag their diplomas.

But it's only March.

The term "senioritis" refers to the mental state of college students as they reach the last few months of school before commencement. Second semester senior year it fully sets in and the many of the graduating class succumb to the throes of anticipation, relief and downright exhaustion from nearly four full years of grueling academic achievement.
Greg Stokes, a senior, defined it as "burnout and the inability to care anymore." Another said it was "getting sick of schoolwork and not really caring if it gets done."

Senior Dylan Ewers takes senioritis seriously, but he thinks one must let it run its course.

"To be honest, senioritis is a virus, kind of," he said.

Professor of Literature and Christianity John Reist said he once had such a severe case of it, he nearly didn't graduate from college.

Reist's senioritis caused him to put off taking a required course in botany, and then to procrastinate on one of the requirements for the course until only two weeks before graduation. He passed, he said, but he was lucky to receive his degree after his brush with the disease that commonly plagues college seniors.
Reist said the condition comes from students' realization that after three and a half years they have probably already made their point to their professors.

At that point, Reist said, "You just call off your dogs and float into commencement."
Teresa Henderson '07, a fifth year senior last semester, did not suffer from senioritis. She said she would not have been ready to say goodbye had she graduated with the rest of her class. Though she would not miss the sleep deprivation, she would miss the intellectual and academic atmosphere at Hillsdale.

Roger Pattison, another senior, says senioritis involves "checking out," and he said it is partially due to the difficulty in making plans for the future (that illusive "Life After Graduation") while still trying to get through the last few necessary tasks in undergrad.

Some seniors check out by attending classes less religiously, doing less homework, participating less energetically and attending fewer extra credit events. Most seniors aren't concerned much with grades during their final semester, unless they plan to attend graduate school.

Continued...

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