With only four weeks of school left, it’s safe to say that the seniors are going crazy for their college life to begin. Seniors’ grades are slipping, and their tardies and absences are climbing upwards. But why?

According to ThreeSixty.org,  The term senior slide, the point in time when students lose their motivation to continue with the 4.0 grade point average, is becoming more well known, it’s.  Seniors have a hard time focusing knowing their new adventure of college is close at hand, but there are precautions they can take.

“One way I don’t let my grades slip is I gave my Schoolview login to my parents, so they keep me on task,” senior Sage Petrusa said.

Senior slide will likely increase stress level and decrease your motivation level. When students get accepted by a college they know their in, so why try?  However a college can relook over your senior transcript and reject if that grade point average is lower than the expectations.

“I suffer from senior slide to an extent, my motivation is what’s lacking second semester. I push everything off until the last moment,”  senior Bethany Henneman said.

Staying focused and turing homework and projects on time is a struggle for students at OHS, however most teachers are understanding of senior slide and will let you earn partial credit for late work.

The senior slide can be prevented in a very simple, but ultimately undesirable way: staying motivated and on task. If senior year is thought of  as a regular year, that drive won’t be so easily lost.

“Seniors are just too excited to start college, me included,” said Henneman.

Stated by Debra Nussbaum of  The New York Times, one way to, avoid the slide is to take it easy your senior year, taking less Advanced Placement classes and more electives. Senior year should be more relaxing, not as hard as other years like eleventh grade.  

When grades start tumbling down that slippery slope, it’s hard to manage to climb back up.

“When my grades started to fall, I realized it was my make or break moment in high school.  I was worried about what the future might bring to me so I changed my habits,” senior Char Naegele said.

When spending more time on the senior benches is a priority versus going to class, it might be time to reevaluate dedication to school. Finish the year strong, and kickstart the college experience in a positive way.