You arrive to school an hour late, thinking that it’s far too early to be doing anything. You feel like all of your classes are slowly becoming free periods, and as the day goes on focusing becomes an increasingly difficult task.

You may even bring a blanket to school to catch a short nap during one of your actual free periods. And when the day ends, you are excited to go home, relax, watch Netflix, and wake up the next day to repeat the process all over again.

This is an accurate description of a second semester senior who is suffering from the infamous mental blockade that is known as senioritis.

Senioritis (n): The monster that tempts you during your senior year of high school with the joys of the future, AKA, college. Symptoms include bringing a sleeping bag and pillow to school, playing four square instead of doing your homework, generally forgetting about assignments and tests, and forgetting the fact that you are, in fact, still in high school and not a college student.

This definition, offered by senior Emma Holland, accurately illustrates the way many seniors this time of year feel about school.

Although senioritis hits most seniors at different points throughout the year, it is a force that affects nearly every senior, and once it hits, there is no going back.

“I’ve had senioritis since my AP exams last spring,” says Josh Osborn. “It’s just so hard to stay focused.”

“Senioritis hit me during the second half of this year, and nothing made sense after that,” remarks Peter Runge.

“I’m still striking the concept of senioritis. It comes to me in waves,” says Quinton Fitzgerald.

No matter who you are or how heavy your course load is, senioritis will most likely creep up on you during your final weeks of high school. For the seniors who already know where they are going to college next year, staying focused on school is even harder.

“Once you start deciding on colleges, senioritis hits hard,” says Emma Holland. “When you have your deposit in, you just feel like you are ready to be in college.”

Although the prospect of taking the next step in our lives and heading off the college is exciting, we have to remember not to let it make us check out of life at ODA. As a senior myself, I know how hard this can be; sometimes we can’t think about anything other than what our lives will be like next year.

Try to cherish your time here with your friends and family, because even though we are all ready for college, we will miss ODA–so alumni tell me anyway.