Senioritis, as defined by urbandictionary.com, is a “crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as Graduation.”

“I didn’t really think [senioritis] would hit me. I was really hoping it wouldn’t because I have so many AP classes and classes that matter this year. First semester I was pretty strong; I didn’t really have any anxiety about it. But now… I don’t do homework anymore; I don’t study for tests; I don’t do classwork. I don’t know how I’m actually passing any of my classes anymore,” Arianna Hartzler, 12, said.

In an attempt to combat this atrocious phenomenon, high school seniors across the nation have collectively agreed on the long-standing tradition that is Senior Skip Day. As a class, the seniors collectively decide on their skip date, then turn off their alarms and enjoy their impromptu day of rest. For Lewis-Palmer High School, that day was March 1.

“I posted on our ‘Class of 2016’ Facebook page to get ideas about what day people wanted to skip. Somebody suggested February 29 since it was Leap Day and pretty much everybody thought it was a good idea,” Ryan Hunt, 12, said.

For the Class of 2016, Senior Skip Day was a bit of a confusion. The students had originally planned to have their day of absence on February 29. However, the date changed to the first day of March just weeks before the event.

“Well, I made a Facebook event for Skip Day on Leap Day, but a lot of people were getting mad that it was on an orange day, so we just pushed it back a day so that it was on a black day, so a lot of the students were more willing to participate,” Hunt said.

While many students chose to spend their day off with one or two friends or catching up on their favorite Netflix titles, a number of the seniors gathered together at Fox Run Park to spend the day as a class. However, not all the seniors participated in Senior Ditch Day. Some were concerned about grades; some didn’t want to miss class; and some just didn’t think skipping school was worth it.

“Well, for AP Psych, I had two FRQs, and I decided that making those up would be more of a hassle than just waking up and taking them to get it over with,” Megan Brandes, 12, stated. “It was really more for convenience.”

According to the Attendance Office, approximately 140 seniors skipped school on March 1, making up about half the senior population at Lewis-Palmer. For those who did skip, the day was relaxing and much needed.

“I had an amazing Senior Skip Day!” Kiara Eady, 12, said. “I got to catch up on school work and kind of recharged for the next few months. So many of the seniors did it, which was awesome. We were all maintaining a tradition. I also went to lunch and got a massage, which was insanely relaxing.”

While not all of the Class of 2016 participated in Senior Skip Day, those who did were grateful for the day off.

Hartzler said, “I enjoyed [Senior Skip Day]…I would for sure do it again. Like, it was so much fun. If we had another Senior Skip Day, I would probably skip the whole day because it’s well worth it. But it was a lot of fun. But it is definitely a rite of passage. It’s part of school. You do skip day, you do the prank, you do all of it. When you don’t do it, you’re kind of missing out.”

For those that didn’t skip, it was just another day of class, but for those who did participate in the long-standing tradition of Senior Skip Day, it was a day of friends and relaxing, while catching up on sleep.