Just when you thought it was safe to skip class today – the horrible dEjX-vu feeling hits you. “I’ve been here before. I’ve run out of rationalizations. It can’t be. Oh, say it ain’t so!” Yes, my fellow cap-and-gowners, Senioritis has reared its ugly head once again – and is plaguing unsuspecting senior students all over campus. Beware, because it’s been known to strike when least expected-even the best, most dedicated scholars. Just when you thought you were immune, all of a sudden, that 3.8 GPA from last semester seems as null and void as your recently maxed-out Burdines card (“It is imperative that I get new grown-up work clothes for the job I don’t even have yet.”).
Symptoms may include, but are not limited to: Excessive drinking; an increase in parking violations and credit card debt; a snooze button that has become so worn that it barely functions; bartenders who know you better than your own professors, and an overall loss of motivation-which has made way for severe swings between apathy, jubilation, anxiety and deliriousness. What is the rationale behind this sudden dip in academic appreciation?
Well, maybe we’re finally realizing that unless we continue on to higher education, future employers won’t give a hoot about the GPA that took years of groveling to cultivate. And for those enterprising students who have seen the dip in the economy as a perfect opportunity to seek a higher degree while the job market isn’t so hot, I’d imagine you’ve already been accepted to the school you’ll been attending next fall. It’s nearly impossible to look past the beautiful calligraphy announcing a reception at President Shalala’s house and the glossy commencement brochure that arrived a couple of weeks ago, to the overloaded syllabus and stack of unwritten term papers crowding your desktop. During this time where the workload seems to be weighing down more than the past 3 1/2 years put together, the general consensus seems to be: “One more month! Even less than that if you don’t count reading days! (Some unnecessary profanity which we certainly didn’t learn here) all of this . . . .”
I can only try to come out of the mist of mediocrity for a moment to offer some advice that I wish I could take myself. Why not out with a bang? Why not throw your all into everything you do for just one more month? I promise it will feel better to walk down that aisle knowing that “all-over” for us means an end to the struggle this semester has wrought, a real cause for celebration and not just another hung-over night of partying.
Whitney W. Friedrich can be contacted at Witz615@aol.com.