Spring semester ... a great time to be a senior?
A few weeks ago I wrote an article on procrastination, in particular the concept of senioritis. That was first semester. Now that its spring semester, I see that many Uni seniors have officially succumbed to the disease. And why not? College apps have all been sent. The last part of the application, the Midyear Report, only goes up to the first semester of the final year of high school. By the time second semester finishes, seniors will already have decided which college they are attending.
Nonetheless, seniors are warned of the dangers of slacking. According to College Board, about half of college students need to take remedial courses because they “do not have adequate academic preparation.” Perhaps more surprising is that “more than one quarter of the freshmen at four-year colleges and nearly half of those at two-year colleges do not even make it to their sophomore year.” However, most top colleges have much a higher retention percentage. Even large state universities such as the U of I have roughly 90% freshmen returning for at least another year.
Surely, someone must have found a cure for this devastating disease. I recently read an article from Time magazine entitled How to Combat Senioritis. One strategy the article mentioned was to enroll seniors in internships for college credit. The Wise Individualized Senior Experience (WISE) program (not to be confused with WYSE) is a paradigm. Spanning 70 high schools in eleven states, the organization gives students opportunities to see, among other things, how academics are connected to their future goals and interests. Others enroll in dual-enrollment programs at local colleges, giving them both a more realistic view of the intensity of college coursework and a chance to get ahead. Essentially the philosophy is that the more high school students work ahead, the more interested they get in high school.
But it doesn’t mean a little slacking here and there is all that bad. Most seniors slack a bit, and many end up doing fine, some even claiming that college is a letdown compared to high school in terms of the academic intensity. And seriously, high school seniors deserve a little break here and there after taking a multitude of standardized tests and completing all those college apps.
I am currently taking a college-level Anatomy & Physiology class, and unfortunately, I don’t think my motivation has increased a significant amount because of it. But now that second semester has rolled in, I am determined to motivate myself. Right after I take this quick nap.
— Benjamin Fu