With summer just around the corner, a widespread case of junioritis has consumed the campus. That’s right, junioritis. It seems as if the senior’s carefree attitude has rubbed off on some juniors and it is with them to stay.

Seniors can blame their lack of concentration on the fact that they already have their college applications sent in with many already knowing where they’re going to school next year.  However, this is a time when college counselors say juniors should be kicking it into high gear.

“With your junior year, you are really laying the foundation to prepare for your senior year,” college counselor Clark Mitchell said. “A lot of schools will look at only your 6 semester transcript which finishes up after your junior year, so you want to make sure you put importance on your academics but also making sure you have a resume ready to go.”

In light of this, it would not be unreasonable to expect students to be studying day and night fighting to raise their GPA and move up in class rank.  However, some juniors are finding it hard to focus on matters at hand.

“I’m finding that it’s much harder to focus the second half of the year,” junior Braxton Mayfield said. “All that’s on my mind is senior year.”

Not only are many juniors constantly discussing their summer and senior plans during class, some are complaining all over social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram.

“I always tweet about how ready for summer I am,” junior Kaylin Carmichael said. “It is a place to vent and distract myself.”

Teachers are also noticing the decreasing amounts of effort from their students. The amount of late assignments and talking during class has steadily increased since the return from spring break.

“In the springtime there’s a lot of extracurricular events where students miss a lot of class, especially because all of the testing,” physics teacher Michael Voth said. “TAKS, EOC, and AP testing, often causes changing in the schedule and students can sometimes struggle with a less structured environment.”

The time after spring break may be the most difficult time of the year for some students, but it is also perhaps the most crucial time for the junior class.   According to counselors, now is the time to gain any extra edge that you can on your GPA and class rank.

“The biggest thing would be to come set an appointment with Ms. Walls or myself,” Mitchell said.  “We can sit down look at everything, look at which schools you’re considering and be able to see what things you need to work on.”

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