As the end of the year starts to roll around, students of RCHS have reported feeling less motivated, more stressed, and overall ready for the year to end.
A poll taken by the Prowler has revealed that 56.6% of students feel less motivated in the second semester compared to the first. This is surprising considering finals, summer, and graduation is awaiting them. Rather than these factors adding to the motivation, they seem to be dragging the majority of students down.
The end of the year adds a lot of new factors in. Summer and spring are approaching and students are antsy for summer break. This doesn’t add motivation; rather, it makes the days feel longer and the second half of the year feel dragged on longer than it should. Snow days off also play a factor in making the last part of the school year feel like it’s taking forever.
Weather changes and Daylight Savings Time are another thing that is adding to the stress of students. Cold weather and shorter days all contribute to kids feeling tired earlier, less motivated overall, and procrastinating more. About 40.% of students feel less focused near the end of the day (afternoon and night). Winter weather makes days shorter, colder, and SLOWER. When you feel like you’re working forever you burn out faster. Daylight Savings Time started March 8 and disrupted the sleep schedules of many students who lost an hour of sleep.
Procrastination was reported to be one of the biggest reasons leading to second semester burnout. The second half of school is harder than the first, there’s more work. With spring sports and upcoming performances in many extracurriculars, finding the time to do all this added work is difficult. Procrastination is a way to relieve stress temporarily, but ultimately makes a bigger workload and more stress.
Seniors and juniors are all feeling the pressure of graduation. Finding scholarships and applying to colleges are tedious tasks that are very crucial but often avoided until the last minute. Kids are stressing out due to SATs, SOLs, and final exams. Everything may all feel like it’s coming down at once. Their future is on the line. 64% of students feel more stressed in the second semester.
It’s clear that the “second semester slump” is a very real thing for students. As the end of the year comes around, keep pushing through even when you don’t feel motivated.
