soooo

I'm listening to this song right

And I go to name my Senior Year folder in my Google Drive.

Guess what I name it…

Senioritis.

WAIT THAT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN YET.

I mean it makes sense, considering that the song I’m listening to is called “Cheating on You.”

Sidenote: Charlie Puth Is Incredible.
And since while I reread this line during my nonexistent editing process, this song played, I’m gonna have to say, Shawn Mendes is amazing too. FINE, I’ve gotta add my man Bruno too.

Gosh I love music.

But let’s dive into this a bit.

This name brought me back to a string of conversations I’ve had with friends over the past couple months, one that most recently happened whilst on a hike during my mom’s college buddy reunion.

Whenever I’m asked about senior year, or school in general, I find myself immediately saying “I mean I know I’m not supposed to have it, but I feel like I have ‘senioritis’ like right now.”

And that kinda freaks me out… nahhh not really ;).

I mean I can make it work, but what intrigues me is how effortlessly I say it.

Looks like someone’s tired of working hard huh!!!

Based on the way I think about and do things, this brings me to realize that a whole lot of the time, I really don’t feel like I’m on break.

I’ve done podcasts (like this one and this one) on this type of stuff but part of me just never learns from the stuff I’ve already went through.

Being conscious of your current state of mind is integral to feeling like you’re living a “full” life, not a half-life where most, if not all of it, is stuck living in somewhere other than the now.

It’s difficult to grasp, and trust me… I know.
I mean, I don’t even understand half of what I said in that last line either!

Senioritis is marked by someone relishing in passing this barrier they created for themselves.

“Just a couple more months, and I can take a break.”

Ohh and we take that break like no other.

We go crazy, party hard, and even in some cases, fall out of sync with life.

And that is a problem.

I had a conversation with my treasured friend (yes these people exist!) Charles, and he was telling me all about how he was squeezing in friend time in the next few weeks because after that time starts to fly by, not allowing time to do these things that he valued most.

I sat there thinking, thinking about the summer.

Thinking about how small it was.

Wanting a larger break.

And I burst out, telling him “I deserve more.”

“We deserve more time off for the work we put in.”

Lots of interesting things happened in that moment, some of which we’ll dissect and some that we won’t.

What We’ll Go Over

• My hunger for more time

What We Won’t Go Over

• My acknowledgement of the hard work I put in all year (something I don’t do often)

Look I wanted more time.

And who’d blame me?

For most of us, virtual has been tiring, and the immense amount of new opportunities and time for work that has came out of it has only helped tire us out.

We don’t realize it mentally, but physically, there’s a limit.

And we’ve all hit that quicker than we should be.

And that’s not anything to be ashamed of.

But that’s something to acknowledge.

For my seniors out there, don’t rush into senior year thinking you’re going to be super productive and earth-shattering.

You might be disappointed.

I say that more to convince me than you.

Because call it senioritis or something else, hard work is something that has to be acknowledged, appreciated, and treated right.

If we all wanna live to our golden 100, do the craziest things in life, and look like 30 in our 70s, then overwork and the proverbial “running on empty” is something we don’t wanna do.

So as Charlie Puth serenades me, all I’ve gotta tell you is this…

Listen to more music.

Life life.

Feel good about yourself.

Acknowledge your hard work.

Don’t sell yourself short.

Play around more.

Don’t take yourself seriously.

Go out on adventures with your friends (or if you prefer, your ‘mates’).

Watch more Youtube

Go on Instagram more.

Make more TikToks.

Okay maybe not those last three.

But you get what I mean.

Chill!

You deserve it.

I deserve it.

Oh and about that folder I was making, I’m not changing the name.

We’ll let it serve as a constant reminder that “my friend, you work hard.”

So it’s okay if you feel at times that you just can’t function.

It’s okay if you feel overwhelmed.

It’s okay if you feel lost.

But don’t push that feeling away.

Dive headfirst into it.

Look for the root cause.

And fix it.

Because you have the power to do just that.