DRSS Teens Open Up: Junior/Senior Slump

As the end of the 2016-2017 school year comes closer, a lot of juniors and seniors have expressed to me a sort of slump that they are dealing with. They feel like they don’t have any motivation, and they seem to not care about their grades. Many are going to Mr. Federinko, the high school guidance counselor, for help, but some, particularly juniors, are still asking “How do I combat this slump?” The pressure on juniors to finish their academic year strong and to complete their high school transcripts to send off to prospective colleges is strong, but students are commonly giving up and letting their grades fall by the wayside.

So what can students do to find the motivation to finish their academic year? Firstly, students can find someone in their friend group to advise them and help them stay motivated. This person should be someone who has strong academic motivation and is not “slumping” as the school year progresses. The best way to handle this advisor-like situation is to check in with your peer either daily or weekly (depending on what you feel you need) and discuss your progress on various assignments with them. Similarly, students may choose an advisor who is a parent or a teacher. These adults can be good advisors as well.

Another thing that students can do to combat the slump is to reward themselves for small accomplishments in order to motivate themselves to complete work. For example, if you have a 20 page reading to take notes on, grab a bag of candy and eat a piece every time you finish 2 pages worth of notes. A lot of the success behind this has to do with the reward circuit in your brain that tells you to repeat the same behaviors to achieve the same result. Therefore, by eating a piece of candy every time you complete a certain amount of work, your brain registers this reward and trains you to read more to get more candy. This can work for studying as well. Place snacks every couple of pages in a notebook, and every time you reach a page in your notes that has a snack on it, you can eat it. Just don’t forget to exercise to work it off afterwards!

Even though the junior and senior slump can be a real thing, there are many effective management techniques that can be used to combat it. Good luck and happy studying!!!

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