These past four years of my college experience have been a rollercoaster, to say the least. From getting to experience my first full semester as an average student, to then suddenly being thrown into a new adaptation of post-college online learning. There was never a shortage of new obstacles to overcome. On top of the stress of being a new college student and starting this new age in a pandemic, a lot was going on behind closed doors as well. I was struggling. I was struggling with attending my classes, keeping decent grades, and even getting out of bed at times. It seemed like no matter how hard I thought I was trying, I still could not prevail. So, this is where the real storyline starts.
Falling behind on a lot of grades and hours is never something someone does intentionally. It is a mixture of life events and mental health struggles that force you to find a way around your hardships. Unfortunately, this hardly grants an exception from the average pace most colleges and society expect you to go at. There is this unspoken “rule” that most people are anticipated to get their bachelor’s degree in four years. They become freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Then, there are those such as myself who know just by doing a quick assessment of their timeline or analyzing their degree planner, that they will take longer than four years. We are now on track to becoming a “super senior.”
What exactly is a super senior? While there may be various definitions online, the one most institutions see and what I am choosing to talk about is this definition where becoming a super senior means you are simply taking longer than the intended four years to graduate, either by choice or by circumstance. Someone from the outside looking in may hear this term or look at a person who is on this track and question why that is. “Why are you not graduating in four years?” “Why did you slack off on your hours?” “You are aware you will have to spend more money right?” The questions could be endless. This just leads to so many misconceptions about what this means for individuals who have to travel this terrain.
For myself, the pandemic forced me to gain a new perspective on my own academic abilities, and I ended up changing my major during my sophomore year in this process. Because of this, I naturally fell behind on my hours with an entire new degree plan and then needed to catch up to meet my requirements. Not only that, but I chose to go about this at my own pace and not overwhelm myself with extra hours in a semester, so I could really focus on my grades individually. I also took the summers to mostly work my jobs or take well-deserved leisure time. The last thing anyone wants to do in their college experience is to experience burnout. I was careful with this. You should never feel shame for doing something within your comfort zone. And that is exactly what the goal here is. Becoming a super senior actually does not mean anything in the long run, because everyone is simply different. Society puts so much academic pressure on individuals to do things within a certain time that we forget the reality of human struggles. So, when you hear the term “super senior,” simply acknowledge that the person that is referring to is doing things exactly at the pace they were meant to.
My fellow college students who relate to this, understand there is no shame in your pace. Whatever your circumstances may be, college is about learning what you are capable of in your own way. So, if that is taking longer than four years to get your bachelor’s degree, welcome to the super senior club. Walk in it with pride because you are not alone, and it is nothing to feel ashamed of.