There is a sickness that runs rampant through the hallways and classrooms of PHS each and every year. This disease wields the capability to corrupt even the mightiest of bookworms and transform them into slackers and procrastinators.

With seemingly no cure, high school seniors are left to fend for themselves against senioritis within the dark sea of college applications, graduation announcements and the perilous workload of their final year.

While senioritis is not recognized as an actual medical ailment, many, if not all, high school seniors would confess to symptoms of minute motivation, extensive procrastination and an overwhelming desire to spend the closing months of their childhood doing anything but sitting in a classroom.

“It feels like now is the last chance we get to truly enjoy our childhood,” senior Holden Cooper said. “So obviously you’d rather be hanging out with your friends and doing something fun.”

Crunch time in the college world is rapidly descending upon the seniors at PHS as well. As the end of the year approaches, the endless applications and deadlines are piling up and flying by. Many seniors find themselves struggling to find a balance between schoolwork, college and scholarship applications and time to just be themselves.

“It’s difficult enough to complete both my schoolwork and college [applications],” senior Jacob Orr said. “I do my best to manage my time, but most often it comes at the expense of any free time I have to do my hobbies and hangout with my friends.”

Coping mechanisms become increasingly important as stress levels inevitably begin to rise. The PHS counseling office and teaching faculty constantly preach the importance of finding or making time for a healthy and safe way to destress and unwind.

“I would advise seniors to look at this time as an opportunity to discover new motivational techniques,” English teacher Mr. Logan Burns said. “Now is a great time to research and examine the best practices that will promote performance in times when we don’t feel like performing to the best of our ability.”

Unfortunately, well intentioned advice regarding how to battle procrastination is often much easier said than done, and some seniors have already resorted to the “almost there” mentality.

“I just have to tell myself that I only have a couple months left,” Cooper said. “Just a little longer until life changes forever, so try to enjoy every last second.”