By Eva Muschkin, Staff Writer

The last year of high school is a time to have fun and spend weekends with friends, but it is crucial to know when to stay focused with schoolwork.

Senioritis, the tendency of seniors to lose motivation, is an “epidemic” that hits seniors across the country, and is prevalent at BHS as well.

According to the website of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, Senioritis is the “diagnosis” when students begin to slack off and pay less attention to their grades.

Some BHS students show symptoms of this condition after they have gotten into college, but others may develop it even earlier.

Senior Monica Arkin said, “The second I got into my first college I felt my motivation slipping. I needed a break after junior year since it was so stressful. We’ve worked so hard for 11 years that I’m burnt out.”

Arkin has excelled in honors and AP classes throughout her high school career and has currently been accepted to three competitive universities.  There are many other students who feel the same, and do not put in as much effort in or out of school as they used to.

College counselor Carolyn Beeler had a different take. “I notice a huge increase in grades from junior to senior year because the students know the gravity of what’s at hand,” she said.

Due to intense college competition, students cannot afford to slack off during senior year.

The College Board website stated “every year, colleges rescind offers of admission, put students on academic probation, or alter financial aid packages as a result of senioritis.”

According to a 2009 article in USA Today, colleges expect a range of performance over a student’s high school years.  Colleges would much rather see a pattern of progression from freshmen to senior year rather than a decrease in GPA.

Senior Jessica Borison said, “I have to keep reminding myself that I have yet to find out if I have gotten into college and therefore know that I should be putting 100% effort into my work.”

The stress of college becomes a big issue around senior year.  Depending on the student, it may push them positively or negatively, but it has some kind of an effect on almost everyone.

“Many kids feels the same way about school,” said senior Alex Roth.  “The stress just makes you focus on different things.”

Ariana Terman admits, “I have a fear in the back of my head that I wont get accepted into any of the schools I’ve applied to so I get stressed out.”

Procrastination is prominent trend among many of the seniors and even juniors.  Sometimes students get so overwhelmed between schoolwork, college applications, and maintaining leadership positions in other activities that they don’t know what to do first or how to budget their time.

Senior Dior Stevens said, “Procrastination is all of my 99 problems and probably the 100th. It’s a huge issue. When you’re trying to get into college, homework seems so dull and meaningless.”

Junior year is extremely important, but all other years create a foundation of your scholars and are just as meaningful.  There are many factors that are taken into account on top of grades; however, and many people do not realize this.

The key is to not let senioritis get the best of you.  Beeler strongly enforces BHS students to stay on task in order for the college process to go smoothly.  She explained that colleges must see final transcripts of students as proof that they graduated from high school, but they are even more interested in the grades and course overload.

No one said it was easy to have homework on top of college applications, but there are still certain requirements for teachers and students that are given with each course.  There is really no room to slack off once it is realized that college depends on the future of your life.

Senior Jacob Tepper wrote, “I am spread so thin this year, I’m like cream cheese on a bagel. My course load is hard, and my extracurricular activities are so demanding.”

When second semester hits, a bigger percentage of the senior class will fall into the senioritis category.

Brett Musick, a Beachwood Alumni Class of 2010, said, “I had only two legitimate classes that I had to work in, so I basically defined senioritis.”

English teacher Mrs. Matthews wrote, “I notice that typically in March or April, after college acceptance letters come in, students are ready to check out.”

Senior search is a better way to end the senior year than by sitting in a classroom waiting for the bell to ring, but it also sets a strict deadline for everything to be turned in by.

Senior Alex Bruening says, “If I work hard now, it will pay off very shortly, so I guess I wish I had thought about college more freshman year.”

As much as Mrs. Beeler does to help BHS students, she knows that “in the end, no one can help them but themselves.”