Senioritis is the decline in motivation of seniors for their last year of school. However, this may not be the case for just the seniors now, but it has started to creep onto the end of the students’ junior year. 

Junior year is said to be the most important year of the four years of high school. With the end of the year coming close to an end, stress levels are even higher. Juniors start to focus more into college research, completing testing, all their school work, and extracurriculars.

Junior Addison Bondy had insight into her view of a hectic junior year. She said, “I think the stress of junior year is pretty severe considering all the testing that we approach during the end of the year. It’s a heavy load, especially since the teachers I’ve had experience with don’t really spare us during testing season. It’s the same load of work, if not even more. It’s hard to balance all the work given to us at the end of the year with testing especially since we have to be so aware of our final junior year grades and GPA, because that’s what is going on college apps.” 

Testing makes up a lot of the spring semester for juniors here at Lake Shore, between the SAT, WorkKeys, M-Step, AP exams, and core class exams, it is piled on quite a bit. From the students’ perspective, it seems that teachers try to jam everything into an end-of-the-year lesson, adding to the students’ stresses and the workload on students already. Students’ stress levels during school are high as is, and as attention levels start to decline, attendance and participation do as well. 

Bondy also said, “No one prepares you for the day you receive your test scores. It’s the thing we anticipate most, I feel like, and it’s hard to stay focused when that’s all you’re thinking about, and no one prepares you for how to react and cope when you don’t get the outcome you wanted. Junior year you start taking more accelerated classes and the workload is excessive, and it’s difficult to balance work, outside activities, and school work all while trying to maintain a good mental health and still be a teenager.”

May is mental health awareness month. Mental health is not spoken about enough, and when there is so much stress and worry in life, it takes a large toll on mental health. Trying to get prepared for news whether good or bad adds stress and unneeded thoughts. This is something that needs to be considered and vocalized more. 

Junior Emma Clausen focused on the other non-academic aspects of junior year and said, “There is a lot of pressure that comes with preparing for senior year, including picking classes for next year and deciding what you’ll have time for without missing the important stuff -like powderpuff, dances, senior parking spots, football games- that’ll make next year fun.”

The most important thing to remember is that having fun is just as much a part of your life as academics. Dealing with the stress of figuring everything out and not living in the moment is draining. 

Junior Emma Stacy said, “During this time we also have to start thinking about our future, and it’s just a lot of extra stress.” 

All three of these ladies had wonderful points in their views on the stresses of junior year, and as this is spoken about more and more people come to the same conclusion: hoping to make it through the stresses of junior year in order to breeze through their senior year stress-free.