Suffering from Senioritis?

se·nior·i·tis noun \se-nyer-'i-tis\: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.
 
Sound familiar? I know at this stage in my senior year I had a bad case of it! We all did. After all, we were on the homestretch, and most of us had made our college or career decisions by now. So, it was pretty easy to rationalize slacking off at school. But, decades later (and hopefully wiser), I can now look back with a different perspective.
 
If you have (or are) a high school senior, you know just what I'm talking about. So here’s a thought about why it’s a good idea to stay the course and finish STRONG.
 
After graduation, students will find themselves in many situations, especially involving college and career, where finishing strong after a long, arduous effort will make or break their success. As life goes on, the stakes will only get higher!
 
Success requires planning, practice, and perseverance. Compare your daily productivity with and without a “to do” list and you’ll see what I mean. Trust me, there is a lot of goal setting in college and career!
 
However, goals can only be achieved through discipline and effort. That’s why if college is the next step, this involves developing great study habits. College academics are much more rigorous and the competition is tougher. My 3.8 high school GPA quickly became a 2.85 in my freshman year of college! It was demoralizing, but eventually I figured it out and would later become Valedictorian of my MBA program. Same brain, different study habits! (ref: chapter 7 in What I Wish I Knew at 18).
 
Seniors are about to enter the most amazing six months of change in their lives. They’ll be saying “Hello” to their future with more freedom and responsibility than ever before. Encourage them that this is their time to finish strong and launch their future well. With planning, practice, perseverance, and patience, they’ll knock it out of the park. It’s there for the taking.
 
Do you have – or know someone with – a classic case of senioritis?  It’s that time of year! What are some of your ideas for overcoming it and finishing strong? Share them with our online community; we’d love to hear from you!