How I Stay Motivated as a Senior

Your senior year of college is a weird time. All year, you are focused on making the most of your senior year, finally being finished with college, finding a job, and excelling in school. This combination of events can make it really difficult to stay focused on school. Sometimes, you would rather hang out with your friend or apply to jobs than study for a test. If you are experiencing this, it’s normal! After all of these years of school, you are bound to feel restless and want to engage activities that are fun or that will help your future. As a senior, balancing all of these feelings with school is something I have experienced first-hand. As the year ends, I decided to tell you all just how I stayed focus on school this year.

First, I had to remember that school still matters. Even though I am close to being finished, my grades still matter. First, they matter because they determine whether I pass or fail a class, which will affect whether I graduate. This was a really important motivator for me because I would hate to let being a senior distract me from the reason I am at college in the first place: to get my degree. Second, school matters because my grades will appear on my transcripts which could be viewed by potential employers. I would hate for an employer to not hire me simply because I decided to slack off my senior year.

Next, I had to find a balance between downtime, applying for jobs, and doing school work. Staying on a schedule helped me with this. I usually spent my afternoons and early evenings on weekdays working on school work. I would go to the library to make sure I would not get distracted. On nights and weekends, I made time for relaxation and hanging with friends. I spent my breaks between classes, mornings, and random spurts of spare time applying for jobs. This balance has allowed me to make time for all of the things that are important for me.

Staying motivated during your senior year can be difficult. Sometimes, you will prioritize having fun over studying, and that’s okay. After all of these years, you deserve to enjoy yourself. Just make sure to stay well informed on your grades and assignments so that you don’t get yourself into a hole you can’t get out of. Although college is fun, the real reason we are all here is to get a degree. So, stay focused and work hard! Best of luck to my fellow college seniors with the last few weeks of the semester!