By Trevor Williams `13, Commentary Editor

With their graduation approaching and their high school years nearly behind them, Newark Academy seniors have begun the inevitable process of moving on from high school. This process is an emergent feature of American adolescence, commonly called “senioritis,” that refers to the vanishing motivation among students in the twilight of their high school careers. Senioritis is pervasive and, but for a sea change in attitude among students themselves, ultimately ineluctable. Teachers, counselors, coaches, and parents are powerless to stop laziness; rather, in order for students to resist the temptation of a slothful senior spring, they must be personally motivated. Before this can happen, seniors must recognize what they stand to lose when they disengage in their final semester of high school.

One of the reasons that senioritis is so widespread is that the term itself has escaped from the walls of high schools and has been legitimized in the public lexicon. A casual Google search will reveal over seven hundred thousand results for what is still a relatively recent invention of popular culture. The Oxford English Dictionary, the authoritative record of the English language, traces the first use of the term to a 1907 college magazine, and since then “senioritis” has found its way into sources both questionable—Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary—and reputable—Merriam-Webster and The New York Times. A high school senior is far more likely to embrace laziness when society as a whole also accepts a lazy senior spring semester as a fact of life. When slacking off is destigmatized, students can more easily justify it.

Furthermore, popular culture has inundated students with the belief that high school is simply not a very enjoyable place to be. Many of the most popular films among the Millennial generation glorify senioritis. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a rhapsody to skipping school (and lying to your parents and principal in order to do it). Superbad and American Pie were classic high school movies in which the characters were focused on just about everything except high school. Not coincidentally, all three of these films take place in senior spring. When high school students conceive of high school, we cannot help but feel–even if subconsciously–the pull of popular culture. These films tell us that senior spring is the perfect chance to slack off after enduring a three-and-a-half year high school experience that probably was not too great to begin with. Take advantage of this freedom, the films urge. You only have a few more months before college and ultimately adulthood impose new responsibilities.

A walk through the halls of the Academy will confirm the palpable onset of senioritis. Senior Becca Butler ’13 laments her sapped motivation. “Unless it’s completely essential,” she says, referring to school assignments and activities, “I don’t do it.” Ms. Gordon of the Mathematics Department, who teaches a section of AB Calculus comprised mostly of seniors, describes the level of disengagement. “My students don’t really want to do anything. If it were up to them they would play card games all the time rather than do the lesson. They even use a fake bell to try to get out of class early,” said Ms. Gordon, referring to an iPhone application called Dog Whistler that can mimic the pitch and duration of the school bell. “One of the core determinants of a class is a teacher’s attitude, and it’s hard to be enthusiastic about teaching when the kids are just so apathetic,” she added.

The external incentives for seniors to stay motivated are clearly insufficient. Ms. Winiarski, a college counselor, did point out that colleges can rescind offers of admission if a student’s academic record declines dramatically during his/her senior year. But it is in spite of—or perhaps thanks to—Upper School Principal Dr. DiBianca’s annual “Endangered Seniors” talk, in which he urges seniors to stay diligent through the spring, that this fate rarely if ever befalls Newark Academy students. In the meantime, senioritis metastasizes. Senior Patrick Lai ’13 offered his own assessment: “I feel so empty inside. I just don’t want to do anything.”

Although wasted learning opportunities are an obvious consequence of disengagement, the problems with senioritis go beyond the classroom. Rather, the chief danger of senioritis is the lesson it imparts: Your adolescence does not matter, because you are just biding time waiting for the next phase of your life. Mr. Beckman of the English Department, who teaches seniors in IB English Higher Level, said students need to place high school in a broader context. “Doing only the minimum is not a very fulfilling way to live,” said he. “Life will always offer more opportunities, and the possibility of advancement never ends,” added Mr. Beckman. Ms. Gordon explained, “Students are concerned with getting into college, but they’re not thinking about what happens once they get to college.” If they are ever to resist senioritis and stay motivated until graduation, high school seniors need to view high school as more than simply a means to an end. After all, life is not a means to an end. Like Dr. Michael Fowlin reminded the Newark Academy community in the Feinberg Multicultural Assembly last month, life is a present goal in and of itself. The senioritis philosophy—a paradigm by which senior spring is just a waiting period, as if to be discarded as a relevant social and academic experience—offers a poor guide for a senior to live the rest of his/her life. Perhaps in recognizing this fact, seniors can motivate themselves during their closing chapter of high school.