Now that it’s spring semester, my various feelings involved with senioritis have intensified because graduation is only a few months away. I’ve already been a senior, obviously, when I was in high school four years ago, but being a senior in college is different for a few reasons.

1. I’m not sure if I actually want to graduate

Unlike when I was in high school, now my rapidly approaching graduation feels like the end of an era—the school era. Graduating high school was a big adjustment, but I knew that I was just going back to school for another four years. Of course moving away from home and living in a dorm made things different, but I was still going to classes everyday and governed by homework like in high school. Since Arcadia is a very small college, roughly the same number of students as my high school, my classes didn’t even feel that different—there was (and is) still twenty or so students in my classes, and I can’t actually skip class all the time, unlike universities with huge lecture halls. So it’s starting to sink in that I won’t have school in my life until I go back to grad school. It’s a weird feeling thinking about what I’ll do without classes and homework and everything that’s been an integral part of my routine since I was five years old.

2. My classes aren’t all a huge waste of time

My senior year of high school, I took about three classes, and they were all just-show-up-and-you’ll-get-an-A type classes. My senior classes at college are a little different; thesis was last semester and this semester I still have a couple of classes that require actual work. It’s like being sort of zoned out but not being able to completely zone out because if you fail your last semester your GPA is still going on your resume.

3. There’s no prom or class trip

In high school everyone is united by way of prom and class trip and all of the other trademark high school things that everyone does. No matter what crowd you hung out with or what you were doing after high school, all of the seniors felt a sort of sense of camaraderie by the time the end of the year rolled around. In college, a lot of the people who you started with freshmen year have already graduated, and you barely see anyone outside your major anyway. Even the graduation ceremony itself doesn’t evoke the same sense of excitement as in high school; there’s just not that same “Aw, we did it!” vibe in college.

4. College loans are a thing

Unless you went to a private high school and had to pay for it yourself (probably not), then our dread of impending student loans is probably mutual, and another reason that graduation doesn’t sound quite so appealing this time around. This time most of us are going into the real world, and student loans are a-comin.’ Back when we were freshmen, loans seemed like something we’d have to deal with in the faraway future, and I think I’m probably not alone in wondering how the time flew by this fast.

So yeah. Senioritis definitely exists in college, but it’s not as easily defined as it was in high school. Waiting until the night before to do assignments, feeling annoyed by the younger classmen, and the feeling of “I’m over it” mixed with nostalgia about my school, however, are a few symptoms that haven’t changed a bit since the last time I was a senior.