“Can we do this later? I have to finish this first…it’s due today,” senior Ebenezer Shim of Spring Lake Heights said when asked for an interview about the disease plaguing the Class of 2018: ‘senioritis.’

According to a survey of 44 seniors held May 15, 2018 to May 22, 2018, 93.2 percent of seniors have self-diagnosed themselves with the disease, which leads many students to care less about their schoolwork.

Senior Erin Wren of Wall is one of these infected students. She now values spending time on activities she enjoys as opposed to studying, she said.

So, she ditched an afternoon of classes in favor of an afternoon at the beach.

“A couple of weeks ago, it was a really nice day. It was like 80 degrees, sunny, perfect beach weather- and I left in the middle of lunch and I went right to the beach and enjoyed myself,” Wren said.

Senioritis affected senior Christina Flynn of Middletown more than she anticipated.

“I think [senioritis] has affected me quite a bit, more than I thought it was going to,” Flynn said. “My work ethic has gone down. I don’t try as hard. I still would like to get good grades, but it’s not as important to me.”

While Flynn said she feels the disease is “infectious,” she does not believe it is a large problem within CHS.

“I think that senioritis here is like regular school kids everywhere else,” Flynn said. “Here, we still care. We still would like to get good grades.”

Shim said senioritis began to set in as students finished their college applications, but its full strength emerged on National Decision Day on May 1.

“I think senioritis has definitely taken over. It is absolutely, 100 percent a real thing,” Shim said.

Shim said the ability of teachers to recognize that seniors are not as focused anymore and to adapt accordingly makes senioritis symptoms manageable.

“They are still expecting the same amount from us. It’s just that they’re a little more understanding or lenient about it,” Shim said.

Senior English teacher Jaime Vander Velde said she sees senioritis as inescapable and tries to adapt to meet the needs of her students.

“There is not so much preventing it as much as preparing for it,” Vander Velde said.

She keeps her expectations for students high and counteracts senioritis by simply preparing for the inevitable.

“You just have to know that at a certain point in time, 18-year-old seniors will eclipse and become like kindergarteners.”