by Jen Woodlee
Senioritis. It’s an epidemic and it’s taken hold of the students of Texas A&M. Classrooms are half-filled, when in the beginning of the semester every seat held a willing and interested brain. Bartenders are making double their tips, and the overall state of our bank accounts needs some serious budgeting.
It’s an itch you can’t scratch, and–trust me–your doctor can’t prescribe a darned thing to make it go away. You begin to self-medicate in the form of sake bombs. No one understands the toll that it’s taken on your body, and you feel so fatigued that even going to the library seems a Herculean feat. Instead, you go to Ninfa’s for a two-for-Tuesday Ninfarita. You should probably just go ahead and add CARPOOL’s number to your phone.
Your moods change. It’s almost like the studious, passionate, and dedicated student disappeared into the lanes of Grand Station bowling. Your advisor keeps saying words like, “graduate,” and “applications,” and “recommendation letters,” and (gasp) “job.” You might be too deep in the denial stage to really grasp what’s going on around you. Where do you go from here?
To the pool. Wait! No! That’s the effect of senioritis in full force.
You go to the advisor’s office, and convince her to join you for a round at The Tap. NO! “Must…stay….focused,” you say to yourself.
Maybe that’s a bit melodramatic (soap opera stardom in my future?), but be certain that senioritis, while it isn’t an acknowledged affliction, is real. It’s the smell of freedom at the end of a three-hour graduation at Reed and it’s the itchy cap and gown you can’t wait to take off in exchange for the hug of your admiring family members. Senioritis is the abhorrence of all things academic, the repugnance of all things research, and the nausea of all things not fun. However, we are Aggies, and if Aggies are not enduring and dedicated to finishing what we started, then I don’t know what we are. Push on, seniors, and push hard. Because there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is the prescription you’ve been waiting for.