Second semester for students is coming up fast.

First semester has been rough and long for many students. Most students are ready for first semester exams to be over with.

With many seniors being able to be excused from at least one exam, students’ apathy toward their grades could take a turn for the worse.

This could start leading each student with an exemption to a serious case of senioritis.

It can be easy to contract senioritis toward the beginning of second semester, especially if seniors are exempted from exams.

Personally, since I have all exam exemptions for second semester, I feel like I will not have to try as hard second semester.

Without the fear of six big tests that can make or break grades, my drive to complete every homework assignment and study for every test and quiz is sure to dwindle.

However, it is important for seniors to stay fairly focused on school in order to prevent catching the fatal disease senioritis.

Second semester grades of senior year are just as important as any other semester in a student’s high school career.

It is OK to be a little more lenient with grades second semester if you have exam exemptions, but keeping grades up still should be a big concern.

Some seniors view it as a free semester where they can be carefree and goof off as much as they want.

That is not the case. If seniors decide to let their grades slip, that could affect the option of going to the college they chose. All colleges want to see the final transcript of seniors, and if grades slip, there is a chance that the college will revoke acceptance for those failing seniors.

Senior Jacob Rhoads agrees on how important it is to stay focused.

“Second semester is an important aspect to senior year,” Rhoads said. “That is the semester where your transcript is finalized for colleges to view and make their final decision on if you are able to attend that school or not, come fall.”

Not to mention, when seniors contract senioritis, many of them tend to want to come in late, skip a class, or even skip school altogether. Being tempted to miss school could have a serious negative impact on seniors.

Many students are tempted to maximize their available absences, and some are tempted to even miss up to 11 days and just make the days up on Saturday school. But when Saturday school comes around, some seniors may not be able to go or they may just become apathetic about it and not attend, ignoring the severe consequences of that decision.

If any student misses more than nine days of school in a class, they will be required to score a C+ or higher on the exam in order to pass that class.

For seniors, the attendance issue will also cause them to lose their exam exemptions.

And if seniors end up not getting the required exam grade of a C+ or higher in a certain class, it could cause them not to graduate on time due to the missing credit.

“One of my friends last year had all exam exemptions and was accepted to their favorite college, but then they totally gave up on their grades second semester and just focused on having fun,” Rhoads said. “Next thing you know, they ended up being revoked from that college and lost all of their exam exemptions due to missing too much school.”

Not to mention, if students have over nine absences they will be unable to attend prom.

Seniors need to keep in mind how important second semester is, and not to have the idea that it is a vacation where they can ignore all of their schoolwork.

It’s OK to relax a little with exam exemptions, but do not get too comfortable.

Slacking off too much can have severe consequences, so when taking a bit of a mental break second semester, just remember to still keep school a top priority.