Spring Fever Spreads Fast

‘Senioritis,’ –or slacking off—is an expression attributed to students in their last term at high school, often characterized by missed class, late homework and apathetic attitudes.

Contrary to a popular prejudice, however, some students and teachers have not noticed that all Exonians in "Senior Spring" show a particular disregard for their schoolwork. In fact, without the incentive of college, many feel that senior electives are the key to keeping students motivated.

"I suppose I should report that the seniors are falling apart, failing to meet requirements and are generally in the last paralyzing spasms of senioritis. But I haven’t seen it in my senior elective," English instructor Todd Hearon said. "Generally, with the exception of one or two, my seniors show up bright-eyed, enthusiastic, and ready to study/act Shakespeare. It was their choice of an elective, after all, the way they wanted to spend their senior spring and catapult out of here in high form, and that’s been the spirit."

However, not all teachers have echoed Hearon’s comments. "Many seniors in the spring are understandably distracted by the imminent transition," English instructor Ellen Wolff, who teaches the Graphic Narrative/ Literary Comics elective, said. "The kids who have the most fun in their spring classes are those who remain authentically engaged; after all, they've been looking forward to taking these classes for a long time I'm troubled only by those students whose disengagement disrespects their peers and undermines the Harkness enterprise."

Senior Jerilyn Wu shared Hearon’s sentiments that students generally aspire to make the most of their Exeter careers until the very end. "I know a lot of my friends aren’t slacking off, though sometimes I wish they would," she said. "People are ambitious and hard-working around here and after four years, it’s hard to break the cycle," she said. "But perhaps that’s for the best. Breaking the trend may stop people from getting everything they would want out of Exeter."

For senior Sarah Van Cleave, the nature of senior electives tends to foster an environment of genuine interest around the Harkness table. In turn, this helps seniors maintain high levels of focus throughout spring term.

"I still feel very motivated to do well in my classes, probably because I‘m really interested in all the classes I’m taking," Van Cleave said. "Withso little time left at Exeter, I really want to get the most out of it, and it certainly helps when you’re passionate about something."

Van Cleave, who is currently taking the Graphic Narrative senior elective with Wolff, appreciated the class’ juxtaposition of literature and visual art. "At its core, literal equals communication, and when words fail, pictures can often pick up the slack, and vice versa. It’s a compelling course, and if you read carefully, you get a lot from art and its symbolism."

Not all students have the same experience. Senior Marilyn Vaccaro acknowledged that seniors are not currently as stressed as they were previously, resulting in a more relaxed attitude.

"We’re all slacking off. I think that’s pretty clear in the discussion," she said. "But I still do my work -- it’s not as if I’m reading any less -- it’s just that I‘m not worried about my grades as much."

Senior David Xue felt that because the sometimes burdening college admissions process is finished, students have the ability to focus more on the content of courses, rather than grades, SATs, ACTs, applications and so on.

"Now that colleges are pretty much decided for everyone, classes become much less about the grade you’re getting, and much more about the raw knowledge you obtain," Xue said. "Hopefully people are taking classes that really interest them, so it becomes about stretching yourself and enjoying the classes you’re taking."

Xue decided to take the Shakespeare English elective. His sincere devotion to the class has yielded many personal benefits. "Right now, I’m preparing a monologue from one of his plays for my Shakespeare class," he said. "I took the course to challenge myself, and it's both the most exciting and the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I have no prior acting experience, so it’s great to challenge myself in fresh ways."

Senior Nick Storozynski has noticed a general decline in motivation among his peers.

"None of my friends start their homework until ten o’clock at the earliest. I think it starts as soon as the nice weather starts," Storozynski said. "I think the conversations are better when no one is prepared – we just talk about what we want to talk about. We’re not prepared for class, we’re prepared to have fun."

For some students, senior spring provides a chance to socialize with peers one last time. "It’s not that I’m just blowing off all my work, but I realize that other things in life are more important than my grades right now," senior Veronica Scott said.

"It’s valuable to realize that senior spring is the last term you will spend at Exeter, and that after this you won’t see your classmates as much, so when it comes down to doing some homework or spending a few minutes with friends, for me, the choice is to spend it with friends. That is ultimately what you will remember coming out of high school — your friends, not the grade you got on one test."