Summer is on the way, and students are more than ready to enjoy the warm weather, sleepovers with friends and staying up late. With these desires comes anticipation, but also a lack of wanting to complete schoolwork. As grades start to slip and assignments start piling up, PMHS administrators are wondering the reason behind these struggles. The answer, according to many seniors and students all over social media, is senioritis.
“I would define senioritis as the impending freedom to get out of school,” senior Ryan Owens said. “People start becoming lethargic and lazy.” And with this lethargy coming from school, Owens is struggling to keep up with the assignments put on them during senior year. “ I do [assignments] eventually, but occasionally there’ll be like one or two that’s a little late,” Owens said. Owens is not the only one, though, as some classes have up to 80% of seniors with failing grades. Adrianna Chesser feels the same way, stating that the intensity of her senioritis is “probably an eight [out of ten], because I have so many other things going on outside of school.”
Explaining the cause for senioritis directly is a difficult task, as it is truly based on personal experience. However, some people say the cause is due to mental health issues that arise from the stress of school. “[My senioritis] is more mental health related. Some days I’m just tired of everything, so then it becomes an effort thing: just not getting up and going,” Chesser said. With finals just around the corner, assignments piling on and college coming quickly for some, the stress levels are at an increase during this time of year. “On top of that, you have to start graduation, you have to get the scholarships, it’s a lot,” Owens said.
The stress from academics impacted Chesser, and it made it hard for her to get the motivation to go to school. “There was a point in November or December where I had to push myself to come to school two days a week,” Chesser said. “You think you can always [stay home] because it feels good to not come that day. You feel so much better, you get so much more sleep and you feel so much more refreshed. Then you take one day off and it all goes down.”
Another potential explanation for senioritis is the change in the grading scale- again. Eric Sinclair, the assistant principal for team ‘26 agrees with this idea, stating, “The grading scale before was a lot more lenient, and you could earn higher grades by just coming and completing work rather than actually learning. Now, it seems more focused on actually learning the content, which I think is a good thing, but also it’s a higher bar for students to meet.” During the 14 point scale that was implemented last year, many students said it lifted those from the bottom and pushed students into an average so less seniors would fail their classes. Changing the grading scale again this year has greatly impacted seniors’ grades, and the admin had to work hard to come to a conclusion to help this issue.
The solution in question came to Sinclair after arriving to PMHS “halfway through this year,” and the idea of mandatory Friday tutoring for seniors with failing grades was born. “We’re not trying to make it a punishment for not passing a grade, but rather do something productive to help students improve their grade,” Sinclair said. While some students may not be happy about staying long after school, many believe the tutoring will be beneficial to those who need it. “I think it’s nice to even know someone cares enough to make sure everyone’s passing,” Chesser said. “There’s a lot of seniors who don’t ever try to help themselves. In this way, [admin] gets to 100% assure that they gave them help,” Owens said.
With the many seniors stuck in their bad case of senioritis, students are wondering how to break out of their cycle of procrastination and lack of motivation. Here is some advice from both seniors themselves and team 2026’s assistant principal:
“I feel like you just have to kind of pick yourself up, pull up your pants, and get it done. It’s only bad for a moment, honestly. I know it’s so cliche that people say this, but it does get better. When you walk that stage, everything that you’ve done now will all be worth it,” Owens said.
“Find something small that motivates you to come [to school] and then use that to push through your day. I think it’s okay to miss school and take a day for yourself or something like that. Don’t let it get too much because then coming back becomes even more overwhelming. Remember, the more you miss, the more work there is,” Chesser said.
“Have the Kobe Bryant mentality. He says ‘the job’s not finished’. Have that mentality that the job’s not finished until I walk across that stage. […] It’s been a privilege to get to know all of you so far […] but we need to get to that finish line together, and I’m willing to do what it takes to help students finish up and get what they need. So, If I’m willing to do it, then I hope they’re willing to do it too, if they need that help,” Sinclair said.
