This is an opinion article piece. Anjali Shah is a senior at Mendham who writes for Arts & Entertainment. All opinions expressed in the following editorial are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Patriot.

It’s May of my senior year, and now more now than ever do I truly understand the word “senioritis.” The year is almost over, and since students have been accepted into college and made their decisions, many feel that there is no need to keep up the top level of academic success that we have all strived for throughout high school. Wikipedia defines senioritis as “a colloquial term mainly used in the United States and Canada to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college, and graduate school careers, or the end of the school year in general.” 

Senioritis, to me, is the action of realizing your time is over, and that a new chapter in your life is beginning. While it may have a negative connotation, senioritis is truly a culmination of college excitement, end of senior year and summer anticipation, and a release of the immense amount of stress that students have carried throughout the last three and a half years. 

I’d like to say that over these last three years, I’ve been a student that has strived for the best, completing class after class at the honors, AP, and IB levels, sitting for exams, standardized tests, and completing hours of homework, all while juggling extracurriculars. The idea of letting all my hard work go down the drain for the last two months of school doesn’t always sound appealing. It is truly difficult for me to let myself not care anymore: to not turn in assignments, to skip classes, or to sleep through my morning at home. However, the amount of stress that students like me have endured makes me feel that it’s okay to lighten up. It’s okay to turn in assignments late and to procrastinate, as long as I’m getting things done. Additionally, students taking AP and IB tests truly have checked out as their exams are coming to an end and their classes are dying down. 

It is important to consider the mental health of all students in a year that has been like no other. After a long three years of work, seniors all around the world deserve a break from the chaos and anxiety that high school sometimes brings. We can only hope that seniors will be able to enjoy the end of their school year and reminisce on the best moments of high school as the year comes to an end.