Fresh of the starting block, the rabbit gets way ahead of his adversary. His speed and tenacity is impressive and makes a mockery of the turtle who so slowly applies himself to finishing the course. That’s the same feeling and idea that freshman’s do. This new venture into education begins a new era. They are determined to do their best and to make the most of their educational opportunities. And just as the hare in the story with the turtle, eventually, they realize that this is just like anything else in life. I mean, they have woken up every day, and the routine of school and its requirements does not hold the excitement that it did that fall so long ago. In the story, the hare is mocked for his lackadaisical attitude toward the race. We see the turtle trudging along, without anything that it takes to beat the hare in a footrace, but the hare has all the advantages to win, but then the hare stops taking the race seriously and he eventually loses the race.
Seniors need to realize that their race is not ending. Truly, it is more likely just beginning. After you graduate the real world will require more, be more challenging and less forgiving. Now is not the time to relax and lay low, it’s the time to settle down to a long foot race, not a quick sprint.
College is next. It used to be believed that colleges looked at junior year academic records, realizing that many seniors will damage their own records during that crucial year. But now we realize that many habits that are formed in that senior year either stem from a deeper more personal inadequacy or they were developed and can continue on through the next few years. So your senior year needs to be a culmination of your past three years, not an exception to them. It needs to speak of your character that has brought you this far, not be an embarrassing blemish on your record.
There are a few things that you can do to keep yourself focused on the longer and more distant goal. By keeping a keen eye on the horizon, you’ll realize that your senior year is not the end of something, but the beginning of an entirely new life, with new challenges that you will need to be seriously prepared for.
Talk to others who have already gone before you. They will relate their own struggles and their own shortcomings in handling their senior years. By listening to their own situations, you will keep the importance of not making the same mistakes in front of you.
Communicate with your friends about your goals and make an agreement or a pact to work together to help each of you be all that you want to be in life. Whether that pact is regarding schoolwork and remaining applied to the task of completing your work or if it is about the desire that you feel to relax and celebrate it is imperative to deal with the topics now before your lack of attention to these feelings has completely negated any serious thought that you might have had. Either way a close attention and an acknowledgment of these tendencies will help you a long way on your fight to avoid the senior slide.