With summer rapidly approaching and the school year coming to a close, Grade 12 students everywhere are finding it hard to motivate themselves to finish the year strong, especially after already receiving acceptance offers from post-secondary institutions. St. George’s is no exception when it comes to this phenomenon knows as ‘senioritis’. The Grads of St. George’s have experienced a considerable decline in motivation since they submitted their marks to their respective universities. During first term, Grads were hard at work in order to achieve the highest marks possible for one last chance to show these institutions the best that they can be. However, once these offers rolled around, the work rate plummeted. Seeing this decline in motivation from students can be expected to some extent, but there are consequences that come with slacking off too much. Students still need marks to complete the high school curriculum and graduate.

If Grads let their work fall off completely they run the very real risk of ruining everything for which they have worked for so long. Most university acceptances have conditional average that a student must maintain. So if a student’s grades drop too low, they may lose their spot at their university of choice. If they lose their spot, they will be in a compromising position, because if the university which gave them an offer, withdraws that offer, they can be assured most other universities will also see their marks as too low and also refuse them admittance. They will then be faced with a very slow and long road back from which it may take years to recover.

Another factor that remains is the students relationships with their teachers: since they are no longer doing any work in class, the relationships they have taken years to build with their teachers, may be in jeopardy. Doing the following is seen by some teachers as disrespectful.  They spend a good portion of their lives in classrooms so you can receive the best possible education;

In the moment, going out with friends may seem more fun than writing an essay but with so little time left, sacrifices must be made. The entire summer, as well as university, is in front of us so it would be a shame to squander what time we have left in high school. One of the most important parts of high school is making memories that will last for the rest of your life.

It may seem pointless, at times to continue the race right to the finish line, High school is often referred to as a marathon and the most important part is the finish.  Let people smile when they think of the legacy you left behind. More importantly, make your final year something you can look back on with pride.