Before getting too far into how senioritis is affecting students we will define the word “senioritis.” Senioritis is defined by urban dictionary as “A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: Laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shorts, and sweatpants. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation.” Seniors over the course of my high school career have been complaining about senioritis. Before becoming a senior, underclassmen think of senioritis as a made-up disease created so that seniors can get out of work. Students in the twelfth grade are constantly heard saying things like “I can do this assignment next week. It’ll be okay with my teacher” and “When is that project even due?” Some seniors have senioritis so bad that they hardly stay in school. At Dimond, 15 absences can get you withdrawn failed from a class. That may be the only reason some show up. Most seniors know where they are going to college and do not really care what their last semester grades will be. My motivation right now is getting a 94 percent in physics, so I don’t have to take the final. That’s senioritis at its finest. Senioritis even afflicted at least one teacher at Dimond when she was in high school. Antara Brewer, an English teacher, had senioritis once. “My grades went down second semester senior year,” she said. “I really loved my high school, but when I look back at it I am really glad to be done.” Knowing that even a teacher can pull back from a struggling senior year inspires me. . . to slack off even harder than I already do. To go more in depth, I walked the halls of Dimond and asked seniors around the school what their idea of senioritis was. Makane Mason, another senior from Dimond, and I discussed how senioritis has affected his senior year. “Early dismissal is the greatest creation ever made,” he said. “Once I get home after 5th hour I can take a nap and wait for my girlfriend to get out of school at 2:00.” This sounds pretty senior, if you ask me. Getting out of school early is the holy grail of senioritis. And if you cannot get early dismissal, then late arrival will have to do. Senior Jane Eckhoff said, “I havn’t turned in my homework in like a week.” That is how senioritis is affecting seniors all over Dimond.