As you’ve been choosing your course loads, you might be thinking: “Six classes? Please, of course I can handle that I’ve been doing it for my entire high school career.”
But no. For the sake of your future senior self, do not do this. Senioritis is something that everyone in high school might be aware of, but don’t fully understand until they are in their final year of high school, ready to graduate, and perpetually burned out. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, senioritis is “an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.”
“I’ve usually been pretty good at keeping up my motivation and interest, yet this year has somehow been my most exhausting one,” Natalie Derona (12) said. “Personally, having a 6th period while knowing people who get to leave after [their] 5th period just makes me jealous.”
A free period quite literally gives you freedom, and it’s more than you would think. At Ayala, there are also two parking lots: junior and senior. These lots often become packed due to the numerous students scrambling to drive themselves home. This combined with the parents who pick their children up from school lead to nasty traffic jams, which can be quite frustrating especially after a long, tiring day of school.
“I love having a free sixth period,” Malaia Reger (12) said. “Especially with having a zero period, it’s already a long day [for me] so getting out early and avoiding the traffic is wonderful. It gives me time to go to the gym and run my errands and still be home by 4:30.”
If you really think about it, it is technically only 57 more minutes of a class of your choosing. However, after having 5 classes of those 57 minute periods (or 6 classes for seniors who decided to take a 0 period), even just one more class is enough to bring one’s mood down quite a bit. It is much better to just save yourself, and give yourself that 57 minutes to drive home before traffic, do some homework, and relax.
“I am very happy with my senior year schedule,” Reger said. “The free period is a godsend and that extra hour of freedom is definitely something to be grateful for.”
However, while having a free sixth may be a popular opinion, there are many seniors who are able to get through their 6th period without any issues at all. Senioritis might hit all seniors, but it definitely doesn’t hit everyone at the same time. If you are one who enjoys school and having classes with your peers, perhaps taking a 6th period during senior year is not a bad idea after all.
“I love my 6th period, it’s one of my favorite periods,” Matthew Flores (12) said. “There might be certain courses I regret taking, but I don’t regret having a full schedule as a senior.”
Even with a free period, it might be hard to even use that time productively. Some might find it more beneficial to just stack up on another class to get more credits.
“I will say that when it comes to my schedule, I prefer having a 6th period because I need time to pick up my younger brothers,” Derona said. “Also, having an extra hour of free time wouldn’t make me very productive anyways.”
Regardless, remember that this is your last and final year in high school. Even though it might not be too sad to think about now, we will never be able to come back to these days. So by all means, do your senior self the biggest favor, don’t overestimate yourself, and snag that free 6th period. Or at the very least, if you do decide to take that full schedule in your last year of high school, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
