Everywhere you look spring is struggling to make its way into the world. Temperatures are (thankfully) up and the sun has been shining. I have seen grass beneath the snow.

This also means that spring break is right around the corner. Or, for a relatively significant percentage of the senior class, including myself the end of our formal education is in sight, March 17, 2007 to be exact, according to my APR.

The classes will be over and with it the endless pages of reading, late night group meetings and papers. It is clear sailing into adulthood after March 17.

While I probably should be freaking out about the big $64,000 question, “What am I going to do with my life?” alas, I am not.

In fact, I am having a hard time getting myself that worked up over anything. Deadlines in my classes approach and loom and I can barely get myself to get the work done. It takes every ounce of will power to get myself to class. As a reference, I only have three classes that meet Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and two of them are just across the alley from my apartment.

I will be honest: frequently I barely make it on-time and find myself day-dreaming in class once I am there.

All signs point to an extreme case of senioritis. Senioritis is a peculiar disorder that affects most seniors who are normally hardworking, dedicated and usually punctual students. The problem with senioritis is it is highly contagious, and can be passed back and forth.

Seniors can often be spotted using each other as procrastination tools. If someone calls you and asks one of the following questions, be wary, he or she most likely has senioritis and could give it to you.

Key phrases to be on the look out for: “Come over and watch a movie,” which really means come over and spend at least two hours doing absolutely nothing. Another important phrase is, “Let’s go have one drink,” where one drink quickly turns in to six or 12, prohibiting proper functioning the following day. Senioritis can be avoided by having no contact with other graduating seniors.

One of the worst parts of senioritis is that it is not like the flu. With the flu once you have had the flu you can never have the same one again. Senioritis can be gotten again and again and again. So if you have had it and gotten over it (you are a lucky one!) you should exercise greater caution around other seniors.

There are warning signs that you might have senioritis. If you consider leaving your house at noon for at noon class, you have senioritis. If you know you have a deadline for a project and can’t seem to start until the night before, you have senioritis. If you are spending more time at the Border than when you had a fake ID and were enjoying it more, you definitely have senioritis.

Unfortunately, there is really only one no-fail cure for senioritis: graduation. Luckily for the many of us graduating early, like after this quarter, like in two weeks (and if I didn’t have senioritis, I would have found out the exact percentage of seniors graduating early), this is good news. Then we will be on our own. Going from the disease of senioritis to the panic of, oh my god, I need to get a job.

Being a senior is grand. But I really hope senioritis lets up soon. I need to apply for jobs.