Being a second semester senior comes with countless perks, however, the ease of school work outweighs the rest. When it comes to second semester senior year, students seem to a breeze through their work and aim for smooth sailing to graduation.
When comparing first semester to second semester, the workload for seniors gets significantly lighter. Teachers know that seniors start to check out around February, but it gets especially worse once they start committing to college. “I committed in January, and since then, it felt like my workload got a lot lighter,” senior Jenna Traub said.
As students get accepted to colleges, pressure is taken off of them to work hard in academic classes. Once a senior has been admitted, their second semester grades do not impact them as much as first semester might have, leaving them room to relax and do less work. “A lot of pressure has been taken off of me since I committed. It has made school a lot easier,” senior Ben Burger said. “I tried really hard first semester, so it has been nice to have this break to end my high school career with.”
Second semester senior year differs from first semester due to the lack of college applications. First semester, seniors are preoccupied with finishing standardized testing and applying to colleges, adding on extra pressure to them. Worrying about college applications takes up more time than one may think, so their absence creates an easier atmosphere for seniors. Seniors are free of the stress they previously endured of standardized tests and large assessments. Without testing, seniors spend less time studying and allow for more time to relax and spend time with friends. “I love having no important tests like the SAT or ACT anymore because it gives me more time to spend with my friends before I leave for college,” senior Sofia Weinstein said. “It has been the biggest difference from first semester and the rest of high school.”
For non-AP courses, no homework becomes a lot more common come second semester. This is because students may tend to pay more attention to classes they view as more important and which may help them more in college. As the year gets closer to ending, teachers stop assigning homework mainly because seniors just do not do it — they view it as pointless. “I don’t do as much homework as I used to mostly because I don’t get as much anymore, but I think it is because my teachers notice the lack of motivation in their students,” Traub said.
During second semester, students tend to take fewer academic classes due to a free period. Student aides, internships and college institute enrollment increase allows for less time spent doing academic work. “I am an intern and a student aide, and honestly, it is the best,” senior Sara Hodes said. “Taking less academic classes was the biggest perk of second semester because it is the best when it comes to not doing work.”
