Dear seniors,

I do not know about the rest of you, but one thing I have learned this semester is how to do everything at once while feeling like I am doing nothing at all.

Senioritis is hitting hard, and as we enter the point of the semester where essays, tests and presentations are due, we are also entering the part of the semester where time seems to be running out. A time when your friends can convince you to go out with them by saying we only have 11 more mug nights, or that the last tailgate of the year is coming up.

Seniors often have easy classes, spend lots of time with friends and have just a few requirements to satisfy before walking the stage in May.

However, some of us are in the predicament of still having tough classes, capstones, thesis projects and internships while balancing our social lives and job hunting.

There is social pressure to make the most of it. Every event feels like it needs to be attended. Every invite feels like it might be the last one.

We tell ourselves we will never again have this many friends living across the hall or down the road.

The walk to Kelly’s Taproom will never again take only 15 minutes.

So when someone says, “let’s go,” it seems important.

At the same time, the academic pressure does not magically disappear just because we are seniors. Capstones still have deadlines. Presentations still count. Professors still expect effort.

There is also the pressure of figuring out what to do after graduation.

The LinkedIn notifications, job applications, interviews being squeezed in between classes and questions like “So what are you doing next year?” are exhausting.

The term senioritis implies laziness and putting off things because “we can.” But procrastination comes from the pressure of not knowing what to prioritize or how to balance everything perfectly.

Seniors have to study in between career center appointments and senior events. We have to celebrate the last 100 days while counting in the back of your mind how many job applications you sent out that week. It is not due to slacking off. It’s due to saying yes and committing to more things than you can count.

Of course, there is the added pressure of comparisons. You might have friends who got internship offers back in September, roommates who are taking easier classes and hallmates who effortlessly balance their social lives and grades.

This comparison just adds to the preexisting stress of senior year.

However, senior spring is not about giving up. It is about finding an individual balance that works for you.

It is about sending in those job applications, submitting your essays and getting ready with your friends to enjoy one of your last nights out together in college. It is about being present in the moment while planning out the rest of your life.

Senioritis is not laziness. It is being overwhelmed. That is normal. It is what happens when you are trying to finish one chapter to start the next. We are not yet ready to flip to the next page, and that is okay.

That is balance. That is maturing. That is what it means to be a senior in college.

With love always,

Lauren