Everyone always says, “Senior year was easy,” or “Oh, I did nothing my senior year,” but is this true? Students tend to get senioritis, expecting their senior year to be a breeze—but that’s not always the case. Senior year isn’t easier; it’s just different from junior year. Your mindset changes from present academic challenges to the future. Seniors are thinking about their future, whether that be going to college, joining the military, or going straight into the workforce.
Many students who have applied to colleges and received an acceptance letter believe they can slack off for the rest of their senior year. This is simply not the case. Many schools will revoke their acceptance if a student’s grades from their senior year are inadequate. This is a perfect example of senioritis. There are many examples of students doing this at Santa Rosa. Some of these students will either not show up to any of their classes, and others will show up but not do any of the work.
On the other side of the spectrum, some students are still putting their all into their work. An example of this type of student is Gracie Raxter. Gracie is a senior who has been at Santa Rosa since Kindergarten. She has a grade point average of 4.4 and is ranked in the top three of the graduating class of 2024.
Raxter said in an interview, “I think taking college classes has helped me but is a lot of work. The work is very stressful and I have some regrets about my choices in classes.” Raxter is currently enrolled in three classes at Mount San Jacinto College, also known as MSJC. She currently taking Psychology, Calculus and English. Raxter has also taken two history classes, an additional psychology class, and a political science class. She plans on taking a second English and calculus, as well as an engineering class. When she graduates, she is projected to have completed 32 college credits.
She also stated, “Senior year was pretty mid tbh. Don’t love it. Don’t hate it.” While Raxter is one of the top students in her classes, she is also dealing with senioritis. “Coming back from Thanksgiving break my senioritis was horrible. I was two weeks behind on my calculus work…” Raxter is an amazing student-athlete at SRA and she is still struggling throughout her senior year.
Many students have jobs on top of school work and athletics. Ryan ‘Bob’ Russel, another senior at Santa Rosa Academy, stated, “Senior year is difficult because there is so much more added stress. Not only do these kids have to go to school every day, but they also have jobs and have to apply to college.”
Russel has a GPA of 3.7 and has been enrolled at Santa Rosa Academy since Kindergarten. While Russell is not currently enrolled in any classes at MSJC, he is on the wrestling team and works for a Mixed Martial Arts gym. Russell also said, “When you’re in your senior year you feel like you’re an adult because you have a job and have to act like an adult but everyone around me at school is treating me like a kid. In contrast, though, I still feel like a kid, because I don’t want to be an adult.”
Many seniors are already 18 years old and most of these students can drive. Most seniors are on the cusp of adulthood, but they are still being treated like children. These students are told that they have to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives right now. They have to apply for college and decide what they want to study at these colleges. Most seniors don’t know what they want to do. This causes many to stress out and give up on their schoolwork.
All seniors are stressed out, but it’s all for different reasons. Seniors who are getting ready to attend a community or 4-year college are stressing over applications and deciding on a major. As well as figuring out how to afford to attend their colleges. The students who aren’t going to college are stressing over where they want to work or if they want to attend trade schools. However, there are still a handful of seniors who have already gotten into college. These students are noticeably less stressed and tend to not try or show up to their classes.
