The Ride Seniors Might Not Want to Take
April 13, 2009 • written by Samantha Hartfiel
As the students of Park High School enter the final quarter of the 2008-2009 school year, the seniors will be embarking on their final adventures in compulsory school. Once the fourth hour bell rings on June 3rd, the seniors will no longer be forced to attend classes picked by the state of Minnesota, but will be able to decide their own schedule and future.
However, while the seniors are not officially done until June, it is already becoming apparent that some of the class has begun to partake in the urban tradition of the senior slide, and are taking the last nine weeks to relax and enjoy their final days in high school. The senior slide is an old lore that states that seniors can take the last few weeks of school to just cruise through the rest of high school with no real effort, because at the end of senior year, most students believe they already have all they need to graduate. While the senior slide is claimed to be an urban myth by some teachers and parents, current senior Gerard Van Wijk believes otherwise.
“It is there, it does exist, ” says Van Wijk, “Don’t believe the teachers that deny it.” While there is no real factual evidence or history recorded about the senior slide, small amounts of coasting can be seen around the school, proving that it does exist in small instances.Some students may blow off an assignment or two to go to a party or a basketball game, while others may skip class to sleep in a few extra hours, under the assumption that they already have enough credits to graduate.While there is not one specific cause for this odd tradition, there are several possible explanations including laziness, excitment, ants in the pants, apathy, not knowing what to do, and stress caused by overload.
However, the most dangerous and extreme forms of senior sliding is procrastination in applying for colleges. Most seniors have found that most large universities have already passed the deadline for applications and there is only a small pool of schools that are still accepting applications at this late time. While some may be putting off this important task because they do not yet know what they are going to study, Van Wijk suggests, ” Even if you don’t know what to study, you can still go to a liberal arts school and get all your generals done in the time it takes for you to think of something.”
As for the senior slide being a part of everyone’s high school experience, Van Wijk says, ” I do not believe that at all. It shouldn’t be done, it really shouldn’t. I don’t [do it]. It’s best to wait until June to relax.”
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