Sen·ior·i·tis (ˌsēnyəˈrītis/): A supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance. (e.g. “I try not to let my grades suffer from my senioritis.”)

As a first semester college senior, I feel like I am an adequate enough source to talk about this devastating disease that is in the process of taking over the class of 2016. Currently, I have about enough caffeine in my system to power an army tank, and enough neglected pages of reading from my 18 credit hours of classes to keep a fire burning for a solid 18 days. Yeah, I’d say my senioritis is in full force. I have a countdown on my phone counting down to the exact seconds of when I will have my diploma in my hand (196 days, 18 hours, 7 minutes and 10 seconds in case you were curious) and I spend more time at the bar near campus for happy hour than I do in my night classes every week.

Symptoms of senioritis include the following:

1. Lack of desire to get out of bed to go to your classes.

2. Waiting 'til the literal last minute to turn in assignments on Blackboard.

3. Wearing the same coffee stained sweatshirt to class three days in a row.

4. Memory loss in regards to when your projects and papers are due.

5. Overall lack of motivation to do anything school related.

6. Overwhelming desire to skip any and all of your classes.

I am sad to admit that I can check off every single one of those symptoms on my checklist.

Unfortunately, senioritis exists even outside of the classroom. The number of times I’ve said I was either going to go to the library or gym when in reality, I knew I would end up at a bar with my friends outnumbers the number of fingers on both my hands and feet. I would much rather stay in my apartment with my parents' Netflix subscription than meet with a study group, and I’d pick half-priced wings at Applebee's over a late night cram session any day of the week.

Some websites list ideas for “cures” to beat senioritis. Their lists include things like taking a class just for fun, getting involved in something off campus, picking up a hobby for fun… but let’s be real.

There’s only one real cure; G-R-A-D-U-A-T-I-O-N. That little, expensive piece of paper is the only ticket to freeing yourself from this devastating epidemic that is slowly taking down college seniors one by one.

So to the rest of my fellow seniors in the Class of 2016, we are almost there. We can do this.