The first semester of the 2023-2024 school year is at its peak. All around, it has been a wild push for the students of CRLS, as we gear up for the success of the rest of the year. The immediate responsibilities to keep the grades up amidst the increasing rigor of classes, community service, multiple extracurriculars, standardized testing, and long hours straining at various applications, push us to our limits. Especially for the upperclassmen, the piling responsibilities can cause a pervasive lack of motivation — thereby prevailing Junior Burnout or the infamous Senioritis. After a thorough survey of the daily lives of the upperclassmen, the Register Forum hereby presents an analysis of one of the specific causes and cures for Junior Burnout and Senioritis.
Juniors and Seniors know how high school works. We know how to manage our time so that we can keep the grades up while managing our hectic schedules. Although this Academic Know-How saves us the trouble from inefficiently straining our brains, it may actually backfire as an inhibition to the valuable experiences of finding joy through the process of learning. Re-worded with more relatable context: haven’t we ever had a project as a freshmen that we were extremely motivated to finish and share with others, yet now when assigned with them as an upperclassman, feel less excited to do? As Mariam Chrifialaoui ’25 told the Register Forum, “I just noticed that this year I have a lot less motivation to succeed. In past years I would care so much about grades and extracurriculars but now it just feels like a chore.”
Part of the reason for this uninspired perception towards assignments comes from our prior experiences doing them. Knowing what to expect, we know exactly how much stress it can bring us. As a Freshman or Sophomore, much of the enthusiasm came from inexperience and the prospect of the unpredictable—grades—which powered us through our effort to do well. As an upperclassman, the calculative approach with which we easily classify assignments based on the effort required for the grade, makes long assignments seem like a chore to go through. So how do we resolve that feeling?
The key is finding intrinsic motivation—the type of motivation to do things just for the sake of pure interest, or enjoyment. As simple as it may sound, however, that motivation is inhibited by an extrinsic motivation for many upperclassmen: admission to a good college. Jolie Chan ’25 speculated upon interview that “because most of us feel pressured to do everything we can to make ourselves appealing to colleges, we’re just piling more and more work on and have to deal with the consequences.” Here’s the key takeaway: while utilizing extrinsic motivations as daily supplements, we must constantly ask ourselves our true purposes — finding reason to study beyond the grades, keeping a genuine mindset for community services, regardless of the required hours. Find joy in what you love. With the pure motivations that similarly guided our childhood aspirations, hardships will fly in no time. Chin up, CRLS!
This article also appears in our November 2023 print edition.
