Are We There Yet?
As the 2021-2022 school year starts winding down, it comes as no surprise that the seniors are losing steam in finishing up their last few assignments. However, with AP exams and finals still to come, they are not done yet. With one foot out the door and their minds long gone, the senioritis is real.
“It’s honestly just a lack of motivation,” senior Lauren Stubblefield shared. “I look at all the work I have to do, and…I could do it but I’m almost there. It’s like calculating how many points each assignment is and figuring out which one’s gonna make your grade go up the highest. So I just do that and don’t care about the small ones because I don’t have the time.”
Senioritis is not a new feeling for these LOTAs. For many of them, it has been going on for months.
“I found out about college acceptances really early, so my senioritis has been going on for a few months now,” senior Sarah Owens confessed. “You’re hearing all the stuff you’re about to do next year, and that becomes your priority. The senioritis is making it easier for the teachers to say goodbye to us, I think.”
Still, the seniors find a way to finish their assignments and
get their homework done, even if they do not have the motivation to do so.
“I have to put time aside to focus on work and only work for school,” Owens explained. “If I say, ‘Oh, I have to do work,’ that turns into, ‘Oh let me go on my iPad. Oh let me look at housing stuff for next year.’ Then that’s what I end up working on, and I forget about the work I have to do currently. Setting aside specific time for Holy Cross work is key, and not just work in general.”
The teachers are working hard to keep the seniors focused, especially in classes they share with juniors.
“I keep trying to move on, try to engage them as much as possible in what is often a very boring subject,” math teacher Barbara Dobbs stated. “The problem is that when anybody is not learning what comes before what we’re doing, it’s really hard to stay engaged because there’s gaps.”
Although it can be aggravating to try to teach students who do not want to learn anymore, still the teachers have been sympathetic with the seniors, after years of watching each graduating class lose their motivation after finishing college applications.
“You’ve been in regular school for twelve years, and you’re sort of getting more mature and you’re ready to move on,” Dobbs acknowledged. “When you know the end is in sight, it also gets harder to focus.”
With the end in sight, the seniors cannot contain their excitement to move on from their time at Holy Cross and to start their college journey. Once they finish the rest of their assignments, it is hopefully smooth sailing from there.
“I’m looking forward to graduating, taking on that new chapter of my life,” Stubblefield expressed with a big smile across her face. “It’s just a change of pace, like getting to see new people, new things, have new experiences and more independence.”
Still, they cannot help feeling a little sad about leaving what has become their home for four years.
“It feels very bittersweet because there’s a lot of stuff I’m ready to be moving on with, and there’s a lot of people I’m going to miss,” Owens mentioned. “It’s finding a middle ground of also being excited to get out of here and the next chapter of life, but at the same time making sure you don’t brush past all the stuff you’re going to miss.
Meg Stone is a junior at AHC and is excited to join the reporting team for the first time. Meg is involved in all things performing arts, including being...