It’s the one thing every college student thinks they’ll be prepared for when the time comes. Throughout college, they hear horror stories of the syndrome that affects seniors, making them slack in all areas of life, longing for the day of freedom from academia: Senioritis.

Sophomores lie to themselves, thinking, “Maybe it won’t happen to me, maybe I’ll stay truly driven to the end.” Juniors get just a taste of the slovenly senioritis fashion and procrastination during finals week and think they’ve seen the worst of it. But more is to come.

Senioritis is impending and overpowering.

You see, I barely had the motivation to write this column. Once a straight-A student and frequent teacher’s pet, my zeal is draining. I reluctantly pulled myself away from the couch covered in junk-food wrappers and peeled my eyes away from the second season of The OC, scarcely long enough to attempt some kind of productivity.

And that lack of motivation seems to be a reoccurring theme that has now applied to all aspects of myself and my fellow seniors’ lives.

That’s right, still 73 days away from graduation (of course I’m counting!) and senioritis, combined with a lethal amount of caffeine, is now running strong in my veins.

Once a wide-eyed freshman, equipped to take on every homework assignment thrown at me, it now takes at least one cup of coffee, two chocolates and maybe one episode of Gossip Girl to accumulate just an ounce of the energy I had back then.

I used to prioritize my to-do’s on a list and take pride in crossing off each task I completed. Now, the only list I’m checking off regularly is the episode guide of How I Met Your Mother on Netflix. That and the amount of absences I am using up weekly in each class.

And as of right now, the amount of Chapel credits I still need is probably larger than the amount of money in my bank account.

But as I crawl out of bed with 15 minutes until class – the remnants of last night’s makeup smeared on my face – and rush to class at record-breaking speed, I notice the rest of my frazzled, sweatshirt-dawning, weary-eyed senior class, and I’m reminded I’m not alone.

Sure, as the semester goes by, we might drink far too much coffee than is healthy, and we’ll definitely have more than enough senioritis meltdowns, but we can’t forget that all this craziness will be worth it.

If we can just push on until May 9, we’ll find ourselves walking across that stage and into a new world that is ours for the taking.