Ask Colleen: Dealing with the senior slide

Dear Colleen,

I am a senior graduating in May, and I have lost all of my motivation. There are 17 days of school left, and the motivation is gone. I feel like I have hit a wall. I don't want to write my papers, do my homework or really even study.

I know these things are important, but I feel like I just have too much to do and not enough time to do it, so I resort to putting everything off. I don't know if it is the anxiety of graduating without a job, or the idea of leaving this place behind (if it has to do with leaving friends, I really don't know).

I was wondering if you have any tips or tricks for finding motivation when we are this late in the semester and also this close to graduating. What do you do to keep pushing through all of your assignments and activities?

-Panicking with only 17 days left

Panicking with only 17 days left,

I did not realize there was only 17 days left! Wow, OK, that’s a reality check for me. It’s actually 22 days from the day this gets published until graduation, but you could be finishing early depending on your finals and whatnot. We don’t need to be technical.

Either way, time is coming to an end rather quickly. I think you hit the nail on the head (Is that the saying? Do people still say this?). Anyway, all of us soon-to-be-grads are feeling a lot of emotions right now. We’re excited to be done. No more homework, weird schedules or studying! Sure, all of those things sound great, but don’t rush it.

A lot of adults, and I mean real adults with jobs, health insurance and a retirement plan, have been telling me to take my time. “You have your whole life to work,” has been the common phrase I have been hearing lately. They’re right. Live it up these last couple of weeks. Enjoy this time with your friends, and make the best of your last days in River Falls before they're over.

It’s easy for me to tell you not to worry about a job or that a job will come your way. The truth is that I don’t have the answer to that. But I do know that you won’t get a job or a least the one you envisioned until you get that diploma! So keep that in mind next time you don’t want to study or write a paper.

Plus, like you said, graduation is less than a month away. Don’t give up now! You’ve come all this way and put in so much work, so don’t let your lack of motivation stop you from graduating. Put in the work now, and keep going strong until the very end.

I’ve wanted to drop out of college a handful of times; most of those were just me overacting about something, but I never did. My motivation is that I’ve made it this far and I’m not going to give up because I just don’t want to put in the work anymore. It’s not worth it.

We’re all burned out, and there's no need to tiptoe around it. I keep myself going by reminding myself why I came to college in the first place. For me, I’m the first person in my family to get a four-year degree, and it means a lot to me to finish.

Maybe take some time to remind yourself why you came here in the first place? I think this will put everything into perspective. Yes, finals suck and the end of the semester can be packed with last minute assignments. Why do professors do this? But we always get through it somehow. Keep going, because soon enough, it will all be over. Finally, remember to have some fun while doing it.

Best,

Colleen