Senioritis: A Defense and an Alternative
Re “Senior Year: From Scholars to Slackers,” May 12:
Senioritis is a disease suffered by many seniors nearing the end of their final year of high school. Symptoms include a lack of energy and loss of initiative to do anything related to school.
I am a senior at Cornelia Connelly High School with only days of school left and I definitely have a bad case of senioritis. But who can blame seniors for “pooping out” toward the end? After countless hours of studying for SATs and AP exams, filling out and mailing college applications, we are then forced to wait three to four months agonizing over whether or not we will be accepted. Finally the day comes when the white mail truck pulls up in front of the house and this time the letterhead of the school you’ve been dying to hear from is peeking out from the corner of the stack of mail.
The next few weeks are filled with the excitement of those who have been accepted to the school of their dreams and the tears of those who haven’t. We live in a world where the student with a 4.2 GPA and 1450 SAT score is rejected from three universities. There is too much pressure on high school students to be the best when sometimes even the best isn’t good enough. Finally, this stressful time in our lives is over and we can look forward to the future. The excitement of moving out and starting a new life overshadows the importance of high school. This may not be the correct approach and to some shows a lack of responsibility, but we need a break!
Christina Lambrakis
Newport Beach
You have slackers because the students are not offered another choice. In their senior years they should have a choice to work part- time instead of goofing off. This goes for the rich and the poor. Not every student will go on to college.
We have a shortage of nurses in the United States. We need hospital-based schools for nursing like the ones they had years ago at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, Mass.
Students live in a dorm that was connected to the hospital. It was a three-year program, without pay unless they signed up for shifts on their off time. Between 1965 and 1968 there were loads of hospital-based schools and hospitals used them for staff.
Maybe this is the right time to have all hospital-based schools. This would be a good time for high school students to receive credit for the time spent at the hospital and a bonus if they complete the training. They give bonuses in the military, so why not for high school students?
Mary J. McLaughlin
Newport Beach
