What Senioritis Taught Me about Life

During my freshman, sophomore, and junior years, I never expected that I would actually have senioritis. But what's more unexpected is what I have learned from it.
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Senioritis is a term that I have said and heard quite frequently in the past few months. Usually, senioritis is a word that describes high school seniors' lack of motivation to focus school in their last semester of high school. As a senior with only eight more weeks left of high school, I have a pretty bad case of it. During my freshman, sophomore, and junior years, I never expected that I would actually have senioritis. But what's more unexpected is what I have learned from it.

For the first three and a half years of high school, I was more than determined to succeed. I took on the most rigorous course loads, held multiple officer positions, racked up hundreds of volunteer hours, and earned bunches of honors. There's nothing wrong with wanting to do well in school, but through all the extracurricular activities, GPA calculations, and to-do lists, I became obsessed with excelling. I felt like I needed to have the highest grade in every single class, win every officer election, and get perfect scores on all the AP exams and standardized tests. School wasn't just one part of my life; I started to see myself as a student before I thought of myself as a person. My simple goal of succeeding in school turned into a nagging necessity to always be the best in every class, club, etc.

Like many other seniors in their last semester of high school, I started to put a little less effort into school. By distancing myself from my academics and clubs, I stopped needing to ace every test or win every award. And, because of my senioritis, I've realized that my previous mindset was unhealthy. It's ridiculous to expect yourself to do every assignment perfectly, to be able to give your all in every single activity all the time, and to never lose or fail. I've also started to see myself as person, not just a student. I no longer see high school as a competition, but rather as an experience with different opportunities to grow and learn.

Maybe I don't get the greatest scores or act like the ideal student every single day, but I'm learning life lessons, and I've always believed that wisdom is better than intelligence. So, for the last eight weeks of high school, I'll just sit back and let my senioritis continue to kick in.

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