If you ask, almost everyone will tell you junior year is the hardest year of high school. Of course, grinding to impress colleges and being your best self to impress teachers and get great letters of recommendation is difficult and time-consuming, but everyone seems to brush off senior year as an easy year. 

While most of the senior class does take fewer classes than other grade levels, they are also taking higher levels of math and English. Additionally, the required classes of Economics and American Government aren’t classes that you can put on the back burner. 

But the biggest factor that makes senior year especially difficult is the lack of motivation. 

During the second semester, most seniors are committed to a university, college or whatever post-grad plans they have. As the end of the school year nears, the excitement of embarking on a new adventure or the dread of coming to school when you’re only months away from graduation gets stronger and stronger. 

Emotionally, this year can be very tough. There are two sides of the coin: students can be excited for something new, but also be scared or nervous of leaving home.

Many seniors will be leaving behind friendships that started in elementary school or middle school and/or leaving the city that they grew up in. All of these thoughts while also trying to keep grades up and resisting the urge to skip classes and assignments leads to seniors having a difficult time. 

Serious thoughts and decisions are jumbled together with ideas motivated by lack of motivation. It leaves seniors in this gray area of caring and not caring.