Extracurriculars can Worsen Senioritis and Cause Burnout

National Honor Society, Student Council, marching band, choir. These are only a few examples of extracurricular activities that require time spent outside of school. Now for a senior plagued with senioritis, these once fun activities have turned into burdensome responsibilities.

“For other seniors who don’t spend as much time in extracurricular activities as I do, their focus is on something else,” senior Kaitlyn Le said. “Rather than me, who is more focused on extracurriculars rather than my studies.”

Le is involved in marching band, pep band, wind ensemble, MAC Scholars, KOE, NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, Mentors and is also Vice President of Triple A. For seniors like Le, most of their time may be spent participating in their extracurricular activities.

“I feel like it worsens [senioritis] because the amount of time I spend on each extracurricular burns me out,” Le said.

For senior McKenna O’Connor, her extracurricular activities also worsen the feelings of senioritis. Between homework, extracurricular activities and a part time job, it may make one question if seniors get any free time to themselves. Senioritis may affect one’s motivation to get any type of work done.

“[During] the free time that I do have, I don’t want to do my school work,” O’Connor said. “When I’m at my extracurricular activities I’m already stressing about all the school work that I still need to do, that I just don’t want to do.”

As a freshman who is new to high school, their drive to participate in extracurriculars may tend to be higher. By senior year, that drive could be worn out. So, in the situation of participating in extracurricular activities, seniors don’t always have the same spirit as they did freshman year.

“If you asked me freshman year I would probably go to every single meeting that I was supposed to be involved in,” Le said. “Now I tend to skip more.”