Senior Grace Kim knows how grueling it can be to work when summer break is right around the corner. When the sun is out and warm, Kim said she can feel all of her motivation to do school work drain from her body.

According to clinical psychologist John Jochem, the decline in academic motivation at the end of the school year is largely due to exhaustion.

“By the end of the year, students are at the finish line,” said Jochem. “They are tired, stressed and can tend to lose focus.”

Sophomore Andy Han said that he has seen some of the people in his grade fall prey to this type of “exhaustion.” However, Han does not believe that he is letting himself “slack off.” In fact, Han says that at the end of the year he is even more motivated because he needs to keep his grades up.

“Your grades from freshman year and sophomore year act as a buffer in case you do badly in junior year,” said Han. “If I start to get C’s or D’s at the end of the year, I might ruin my chances for college.”

Han said that his definition of finishing strong is ending the school year with good grades and the pride that comes with knowing that he buckled down and worked to the best of his ability.

According to Jochem, college is a large factor in academic motivation for high schoolers. Jochem specifies that, since seniors have already been admitted to colleges, they may adopt a lackadaisical attitude, otherwise known as “senior-itis,” towards their current school work.

“Senior-itis is different and the reasons behind it vary,” said Jochem. “Overconfidence, feeling satisfied with what they have already accomplished and the idea of senior-itis being a rite of passage are all part of the lack of motivation in seniors.”

Kim said she definitely feels a lack of willingness to work because she has already been admitted to college. Since colleges do not often take back a student’s acceptance, Kim said that she feels as if she can do the minimum amount of schoolwork and get by.

“Some people care about their grades, I do,” said Kim. “But for now, I really just want to enjoy the end of my senior year and not worry too much about the letter grade. Finishing the year strong, for seniors, is enjoying yourself while keeping an eye on your letter grades.”

Jochem believes that in order to finish the year strong, students must not allow their academic work to suffer.

“Students need to fight through the final stretch of school,” said Jochem. “If students are able to stay on task and motivated then they really have finished their school year strong.”