LWA Antics

Fighting senioritis to leave our mark

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The 2012-13 school year has begun and excitement is in the air as Lawrence Woodmere Academy (LWA) has reached its centennial year. As a member of this year’s graduating class, I find that the expectations for us are a bit higher. Could this help to prevent the inevitable senioritis?

Call it slang if you wish, but symptoms of this illness are undeniable. In my short 17 years of life, I have yet to meet a senior who has not been plagued by this phenomenon. For those who have never heard of such a thing, Merriam-Webster offers a definition. Senioritis: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.

Similar to chicken pox, senioritis becomes increasingly fatal the older you get, however it often only strikes once. To many seniors, it has become a right of passage, like prom or the Senior Trip. It is a second-semester senior’s reward for the cumulative work they have completed during their high school career. Equipped with a college acceptance letter, seniors develop a lethargic work ethic.

I myself am a first-semester senior and therefore have not yet experienced the full force of senioritis. There are still many college applications to complete, meetings to sit in on, not to mention transcripts that still must be submitted.

Personally I see myself wanting to leave my mark. The past four years, I have been an active participant in drama. With leading roles in four high school productions, I have found my home on the stage. I will work hard for my standing ovations, one show at a time. This year, in my final two performances, I want to put an exclamation point on my high school career.

With the centennial of the school being celebrated, it seems senioritis would be inappropriate. One hundred years from now, LWA students will open up the first centennial yearbook to see our faces. Maybe they will be more concerned with our clothes or smiles in our pictures but hopefully they will also comment on our accomplishments. I’d like to be a part of a class that sought opportunities and strived for excellence rather than another class that fell ill with a case of senioritis.