As summer slowly approaches and the weather gets nicer, students get antsy, and more absences appear. The thoughts of summer activities and graduation excite students and give them something to look forward to.
The downside is that it makes the rest of the year feel draining and longer than it is. The nice weather also makes it harder for students to focus on school.
They would rather have fun with their friends in the nice weather. This makes it harder for students to focus, and grades tend to drop.
“During my sophomore year, my grades would drop toward the end of school, but in junior and senior year, I picked it back up,” LHS senior Dylan Malcom said.
Students miss more school activities or slack off on homework and studying. They also start to become more tired and antsy about getting out.
The stretch between spring break and summer feels the longest because there are no more breaks off school after spring break.
“Teens are just counting down every second till the year is over; most teachers even have countdowns to the end of the year in their classroom.” Sabrina Spraetz said.
Senioritis also usually starts to kick in with graduation being so close. The countdown until graduation and getting out into the world is grueling and challenging for some seniors.
“Having the sense of feeling that you are almost done with school forever and getting out into the world is exciting, but senioritis hits when the weather is finally nice, and everyone wants to be outside,” Malcom said.
Students usually miss a lot of school during the spring semester. With the weather improving, students will spend more time outdoors or on vacations, unlike in winter, when people are mostly stuck inside.
“I usually miss a fair amount of school during the year, but the spring semester is when I usually miss the most school,” Spraetz said.
Students like to do more outdoor activities after being inside for so long during the winter, and as the weather gets nicer, teens often start to gain more motivation to do things. Outdoor sporting events are also the reason for many absences during this time.
One of the bright sides to this period is that the schoolwork feels more manageable and less stressful. As students come up on the final stretch of their time here at LHS for the year, there will be less work and stress.
“The period between spring break and summer does not feel very long to me because the school work is a lot easier, as opposed to the beginning of the year where it is more stressful,” Malcom said.
The end of the year tends to go by fast once it hits May. It feels longer once spring ends at the end of March, and I have to re-adapt after a week off. April feels very stressful this year and long because of ISATs and SATs.
Once May comes around, though, there is only one more month of school, and it tends to go reasonably fast. The anticipation of summer break is hard to ignore, making the wait feel longer.
