The afternoon sun shines brightly onto the hot sand as the wind ruffles senior Madhu Ramkumar’s hair. As she bathes in light, she wonders what she would have been doing in her PRIME class right now, if she had gone. Then, the sound of the seagulls cawing above and the waves crashing onto the shore sent her back to the Santa Cruz beach where she went instead of attending school.

“I wouldn’t say my case of senioritis is bad,” Ramkumar said. “But I’m definitely going out more and overall just more relaxed.”

“Senioritis,” a colloquial term used to describe the decreased motivation students have towards school as they near graduation, can cause a lack of motivation in many seniors, as the term hints at. Micaiah Acosta. Acosta said her senioritis is manifesting itself in spending more for herself rather than studying.

“I watch shows every night now. It’s so great,” Acosta said. “I used to never be able to watch TV on the weekdays because of either homework or tests, but now Netflix has become a part of my nighttime routine.”

For other students like Ramkumar, senioritis means spending more time with friends and family.

“I’ve been hanging out with friends on weekdays regularly now,” Ramkumar said. “We just chill and do whatever.”

However, with less devotion to school and attaining higher scores, many students are seeing a decline in their grades.

“It’s senior year,” Bruff said. “A couple missing assignments are tanking my grades, but I’ll get them back in before graduation for sure.”

Despite this, senior Nicholas Shinghal said he is finding ways to combat senioritis by personal means. 

“I like to exercise when I am feeling burned out,” she said. “It’s a healthy break from homework, and it gives my brain a wake-up call.”

Although senioritis and the lack of academic motivation affect him, Shinghal said he, will graduate looking back at her time at Paly as a positive experience.

“I’m so excited for graduation,” Shinghal said. “I think I might miss Paly.”