For high school seniors across the country, the upcoming months are an exciting time consumed with admission letters and planning for the future. However, as graduation approaches, the annual “senior slide” epidemic has altered study habits and levels of motivation for many.

“It is so easy for seniors to be excited for college and other future plans,” OHS Principal David Benson said, “they can get distracted from the present.”

Many educators have the same or a similar opinion.

Marian Leibowitz, an educational consultant in Lawrenceville, New Jersey wrote in a New York Times article, “with early decision, there is very little motivation for high school seniors to really engage in their work.”

Along with lower levels of motivation, the amount of time spent on schoolwork and studying has dropped severely. “I now probably spend about an hour on homework,” senior Sam Challgren said. “Last semester, I probably had a couple of hours of schoolwork a week.”

For some, the concept of easing up or slacking off is confusing.

“I’ve never really understood why senior slide is so popular among today’s high school seniors,” English teacher Jessica Frie said. “It actually makes more sense to me that senior slide would be more popular in the past and less common now because college has become so much more competitive.”

“Senior slide” can have many negative impacts that seniors may not think about. “It’s not good in the long run,” business teacher Lisa O’Halloran said. “Seniors don’t realize that the workload in college only becomes harder and more time consuming.”

Seniors that take “senior slide” to an extreme level can face very immediate and drastic consequences.

According to an article on Threesixty Journalism, Kristen Hatfield, associate director of admissions at the University of St. Thomas said that her university does not admit students based only on their grades as of junior year.

“Typically anyone with Ds and Fs senior year is flagged for further review,” Hatfield said, “In some cases we may change the admission status to provisional.”

Keeping students interested and excited about learning is very important in keeping seniors from sliding too much. “Its a lot easier to be interested in a subject or concept when it relates to our lives both inside and outside of school,” said senior Dan Lensing.

“Senior slide” can be a slippery slope with unforeseen consequences. However, it can be managed and, more importantly, is something to be mindful of as the semester progresses.