The last two semesters of college are probably the two hardest semesters a student has to face. Being a senior in college has its perks, but it also comes with the biggest distraction of them all: graduation.

Students spend their whole undergraduate college career working toward their bachelor’s degree. Often times it is becomes harder for students to find the motivation to put all their effort into classes when they know that graduation is only months away.

All of the hard work put into the past four or five years seems like it’s finally paying off, until midterm season comes and you bomb it. With so much on the line for senior year of college, like being able to participate in commencement, passing all your classes for graduate school and maintaining that GPA you worked so hard to achieve, why is it so hard for some students to just buckle down and finish strong?

Coming from a fourth-year college senior, I can tell you why. We get tired of it. Especially if you get stuck taking the hardest classes of your major during your last year.

All those classes that were avoided being placed in your enrollment shopping cart are now the only few requirements left.

Getting closer to being handed that diploma can sometimes defer students away from the focused path they were on that got them to that point. Slacking off can seem more acceptable to do until it becomes a habit.

Not passing classes during senior year can really mess up a student’s track to graduation and plans they may have made for after. Although senior year may mark the beginning of an end for undergraduate students, it still is not over.

There is a lot of pressure on students for senior year. Students are supposed to graduate knowing some direction of where they want their life to go. It becomes really easy to become eager about graduating until we are hit with the question, “What are you going to do after you graduate?” I’m pretty sure that not every student who graduates knows what they want to do post-graduation.

All the work and progress students have made over their years as undergraduate students should not be ruined by catching “senioritis” during their last year. It isn’t worth it. Come the end-of-the-year commencement when finals will have passed and the rest of life will come together to figure itself out.

Kristina Martinez can be reached at [email protected] or @kristinacsuc on Twitter.