Opinion by Samantha Perera
News editor
Once again graduation has arrived for those of us seniors about to take the giant leap into the big, wide world.
With finals and the holiday season approaching many students have a compiling list of things to do. I know that there is not enough time in a day or days in a week sometimes to do everything you want to.
This does not apply just to your final year, but every semester right before that dreadful week of finals. The graduation process just adds to it. Yes, running all around campus getting your paperwork filled out is tiresome, but there is also that feeling of impending doom that hangs over your head.
It’s not that I don’t want to graduate. Actually I can’t wait to graduate. It’s both exhilarating and nerve-racking at the same time. I have this constant dilemma, and at certain times one side dominates over the other, leaving me happy and proud at one moment, and then gloomy and sad at the next. The diagnosis? No, I’m not bipolar; it’s “Senioritis.”
According to Wikipedia, senioritis is “the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers.”
To all you who think this might not happen to you, think again. The syndrome usually affects high school seniors, though those of us who are college seniors about to graduate know this not to be true.
The Collegeboard website states “Every year, colleges rescind offers of admission, put students on academic probation or alter financial aid packages as a result of ‘senioritis.’”
So how can we overcome this feeling and push through that final stretch? Staying focused is the most important thing. Don’t stress out. You need to stop obsessing over everything.
Of course if you’re someone like me and can’t say no, winding up with more work than you had to begin, you’re just going to stress out further.
Step one: Learn to say no! Sometimes it’s OK to say no, people will understand or forgive you someday in the future. Life will go on. Once again, don’t OBSESS!
Step two: Organize and plan ahead. Don’t leave everything for the end. Just take it a little at a time and you will see it will all work out. I write everything down so that I don’t miss any more assignments or forget to do my homework. Do you really want to mess up in your last semester? Trying to organize everything so that you don’t wind up bald or comatose is the goal.
Step three: Just relax and enjoy yourself. Now that you have planned everything, set aside some time for yourself or some time with your family/friends. Go on a date, go watch a movie or go shopping. Get out of your house and do something you love, even if it is for one day. Enjoy your senior year and last semester. You’ve worked hard for it and you deserve to have some fun.
The fourth and final step is saying goodbye. Goodbye to fond memories and not so fond memories, friends you may or may not ever see again (except on Facebook), professors or mentors who inspired and guided you and most of all to the place that consumed your life for the past few years.
I’m glad I came to Southeastern and met the wonderful people who have become not only my friends, but also my new family. Looking back I don’t want to regret a single experience, because it was all of it that made it great and gave me much wisdom and knowledge that I will hold on to for the rest of my life.