I am ready for the semester to be over.

With less than one month left, the end of another semester is quickly approaching. Not to mention, the spring weather is kicking in. It’s the all-too-familiar feeling that summer is approaching and, with it, the freedom that comes from being out of school— summer jobs aside, of course.

The end of the school year is exciting, but it’s challenging, too. The first feel of summer air is alluring. No one wants to do schoolwork anymore.

This feeling is compounded for me, though, and everyone else in my class because we’re seniors. I am finishing up my last semester of college.

It’s bittersweet. I’ll miss my roommates and my classes. I have loved my on-campus jobs. The college years are a time like no other, in that we live in between childhood and adulthood. Many students face very real adult responsibilities, yet we still exist within the bubble of school.

But I emphasize the word “school” in that sentence.

Yes, I love going to class. I always have. But I will be more than happy not to do homework anymore or go through another finals week. No more last-minute emails for group projects (hopefully) and no more busy work (again, hopefully).

My classes, thankfully, are enjoyable this semester. I’m taking a couple English classes to finish my major courses and one digital media arts class to finish one of my minors. They’re fun courses with great professors, but wow, I just do not want to do the work anymore.

Enter stage right: senioritis.

At the end of every school year, despite not being a senior, I have usually felt a decline of motivation. Again, that springtime breeze takes many out of student mode. However, this year the end is really in sight.

Honestly, a lot of the “senioritis” I am experiencing is a combination of academic and pandemic burnout. I want school to be over, but I think I really just want COVID-19 to be gone.

Spring semester of my junior year was cut in half by online classes, and my entire senior year was altered by the pandemic. I made do, but it’d be nice for the pandemic to wrap up (yay, vaccines!). Everyone wants that.

But we have to keep going, and so must I with the remainder of school.

Now, I have always been too overly concerned about my grades to let the “senior slide” win out. Plus, I have worked too hard throughout college to slip in the last six weeks. Though, I still find myself indulging in the senioritis mindset a bit.

I’m more likely to hang out with my roommates than do homework. We’re all moving out, and I want to savor the time I have left living with them.

I’m more likely to stay up late reading or doing some other activity because who needs to be fully— or mildly— rested for the next day?

I’m more likely to spend my weekends out and about or with friends rather than getting ahead or prepping for the upcoming week.

Of course, I did all of these things before my senior year, but now an end has been issued for them. I want to enjoy them while I can, especially if I can still get my school work done on time and with the quality I expect.

Senioritis does not have to be a landslide for grades. I consider my lack of academic motivation to be an avenue for other experiences, like spending time with friends, especially since I know I will still complete my work.

After four years of college, I want to be able to sit back a bit and be proud of what I’ve accomplished. Sure, this can wait until after graduation. Yet, I want to take in everything that’s happened, and happening, while I’m still here.

I know full-fledged adult life and working full time won’t be without its stress and deadlines, but it will be something new. School is the only thing I know. I’m excited to graduate and see what comes next, even if the job hunt elicits its own kind of anxiety.

Work will have performance evaluations or job-specific expectations, but at least it won’t have grades.

Maddie Peters can be reached at pete9542@stthomas.edu.