In all seriousness, however, the seniors are running their last mile in the seemingly endless marathon that is high school, and thus it is only expected that senioritis begins to creep into their daily lives. However, the behavioral changes began quite earlier than expected this year.
As the early college applications are due on the first of November, many seniors are rapidly trying to perfect their apps in time for their college counselor’s deadline. This, then, translates into their outfits worn to school, which mostly consists of an oversized, comfortable t-shirt and loose sweatpants. Although a minor symptom, this signals the beginning of the dangerous cycle of senioritis.
With pressure to get accepted into ‘good universities’ increasing by the year, senioritis has only gotten worse. Students feel immense amounts of stress piled on their shoulders have resort to extreme ways of releasing such emotions, such as skipping class or slacking off in class in general.
What’s interesting, however, is that senioritis is mostly an American-influenced phenomenon. International school students that go by the American curriculum here in Korea all relate to one another on this annual behavioral occurrence, yet Korean students appear to encounter the opposite phenomena: they work harder.
Although the pressure is still present in both cultures, the notable difference between the two is perhaps the reality that Korean students take one standardized test once and only once towards the end of their second semester. In fact, they receive acceptance letters from universities only a month before graduation. This pushes them to work even harder during the last few months of high school, whereas students in America have all four years of high school to take their standardized tests and receive acceptance letters months prior to graduation.
For the seniors that have managed to stay focused, a huge round of applause goes out to you. For those that haven’t been so productive, keep in mind that it’s not too late to improve your academic habits.
