Sixth Form Spring: (A Series?) Revisited

By Hudson Stedman ’21
​For true Westminster News fans, you may remember a satirical article I did towards the end of my Fourth Form year documenting the unprecedented cases of senioritis in the notorious ‘Senior’ or ‘Sixth Form Spring.’ But I am afraid to report just two years later, the same epidemic I so fearfully yet ambitiously admired from the naive eyes of a sophomore has infected yours truly. I know. I watched and wrote and joked in horror as I witnessed Justin Schuster ‘19 reply ‘SEX ROBOTS’ to a community news email, or Alex Wolf ‘19 skip her Art History AP exam in a last-minute decision to enjoy the vibes and sunshine of a beautiful May afternoon. But having reached the end of an unprecedented Sixth Form year navigating the everlasting upwards stream of a global pandemic, I seem to have dodged a COVID-19 infection only to come down with the horrendous symptoms of senioritis.

As I am writing this article now — two day past the deadline I should add — I’ll share some of the gruesome effects of my symptoms just today: I woke up, sat in bed watching TikToks for half an hour before I figured 8:15 am was probably cutting it a little too close to make it to AP Statistics in five minutes, and sure enough, well I ended up being ten minutes late. Oops? After Stats, I figured I should probably get going on the AP Physics problem set I still had yet to complete that was due an entire week earlier. “No, that’s a tonight problem,” I thought to myself. Once again, oops? Yet the troubling thing is I am not alone in the cases of senioritis that seem to have higher degrees of intensity than years prior.
 
But seriously, can you blame us? The Class of 2021 has had to battle its way through the toughest year in the history of the corrupt cycle we like to call ‘the college admissions process,’ uphold a strict standard of hygiene and masking that applies the moment you leave your door in the morning and bombard their way through copious amounts of administrative green-lights just to achieve something as little as hanging a hammock between two trees. Yes, you know who you are. Yes, I’m still salty about it. In all seriousness, however, we are tired. Everyone is just tired. I began this piece as yet another satirical article depicting the ill-effects of senioritis, but I’d certainly be remiss to not include the realist perspective on my senior year, as well as not close without some words of wisdom having written about the under-former and now nearly graduated perspective on the infamous Sixth Form Spring.
 
To the Third Formers: please do not engage in any forms of senioritis until at least February of 2024. This year has had so many virtual affairs that reveal how easy it is to be a bystander, but I certainly would not be the Hudson I am today if I had not asked, engaged, and led an intellectually and socially curious four years here in my educational journey. To the Fourth Formers: this is the first on-campus spring you have experienced, and please do not let it be the ‘go to’ as you enter your Sixth Form Spring in two years’ time. Continue to engage, enlighten, and be the amazing people you are as revealed by the Public Speaking Competition I witnessed just last night. To the Fifth Formers: you are about to embark on one of the most difficult times in your Westminster career, stepping into numerous leadership roles and navigating the (once again corrupt) college admissions process, and I advise you to think of five Sixth Form leaders of any year who have influenced your time here thus far, and seek to achieve the role of leadership that made such a memorable impact on yourselves. And, lastly, to the faculty and staff: seriously, thank you. I recognize each and every single one of you is as tired and burnt out as the majority of current Sixth Formers are, and my only advice is to come back next fall feeling rejuvenated, and once again ready to share your knowledge, life lessons, and kind hearts to this growing Westminster community, just as you have done so with myself. As you all continue under new guidance, seek the chance to engage with this community, pushing a more empathetic and vulnerable family that has grown together out of hardship. For the next week, I’m afraid my symptoms of senioritis may grow worse; however, I’m beyond thrilled I was able to crank out one last semi-satirical article to leave my final mark on this little journalistic platform I know and love as The Westminster News. From your Co-Editor in Chief, thank you all, for everything.