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Beware End-of-Year Complacency

By Jack Lippmann, Grade 12
Recently we all returned to school after a much-needed and well-deserved break. While all the breaks during the year are of great respite to everyone at the school, this past break was most likely the most refreshing of them all. With this break also comes the onset of spring, the temperature finally starts to warm, and sports move from the gyms and the rink to the grass fields. It truly feels like a final turning point for the year, with the end of the school year in sight.

With this new feeling, it becomes quite common for a sense of complacency to settle in among many students. With the outside being accommodating again, we justifiably would rather be outside with friends than in our stuffy dorm rooms studying our notes and making sure our homework is done to a high standard. This feeling is especially dangerous for those in Grade 12 who have received acceptances from universities, as often they can be lulled into a sense of complacency due to the rationale that we already got into college so we can relax.

Complacency can take many forms. It could come in the form of  procrastination, where homework gets ignored due to the nice weather. Or it could come in the form of using important study time to do other things, rationalizing that the school year is ending soon, so there is no need for worrying about school anymore, especially seeing as, even after a nice long break, school becomes especially tedious as the end gets in sight. But falling into this complacency can have devastating consequences.

The dangers posed by the complacency common towards the end of the year are many, with varying degrees of severity. The most prevalent one would be a drastic drop off in grades, due to the last term being worth the most on your final mark. This drop off could change your life by limiting what universities you may be able to get into in the future. A fall in grades at the end of the year could also adversely affect your grades in the next year, as a lack of understanding of the previous year's content will hinder your advancement in the next year, hurting your grade, as well as your mental health.  

All this is not to say don’t enjoy spring and the warming weather. Please get outside and spend time with your friends, as this is the best time of the year to do it. But I implore you to keep in mind that finishing strong this year and balancing your time appropriately will be better for you in the long run, and ultimately is what is most important.
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