College is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that has made me grow as a person more than I ever imagined it would. It has been the combination of experiences I had from schoolwork and the partying that defines my college years.

Well, I have had my fair share of schoolwork time.

So let the senioritis begin. I mean, I am technically a senior.

The irony with my case, however, is that I am not even graduating at the end of this semester. I am going to be a super senior next year, and my senioritis state is already kicking in now. Is this a good thing? I don't know, but I'm rolling with it.

So yes, I have become somewhat of a slacker, and yes, I will blame it mostly on my friends.

It finally hit me that this syndrome had been passed off to my head when I decided to go out on a Tuesday night instead of studying for an exam. Now, with great luck somehow I pulled off a decent grade, but this is not my typical collegiate behavior from previous years. I also have tended to put off assignments until the extreme last minute.

I mean, most of my friends are graduating on time; this will be the last semester I get to spend with them. The pictures and the memories I have accumulated throughout this year have made all the procrastination that comes with this contagious mental state worthwhile.

Their senioritis has rubbed off on me, and I'm just happy I get to share their senioritis with them.

Now, although this sort of laziness occurs, it does not mean that I gave up on school all together. My senior-stricken mind still lets me make sure I do just the right amount of work to get by, allowing my graduation date not to be postponed any further than it already has been.

Some people I have talked to just don't understand why or how senioritis happens. They just cannot see the good that can actually come out of it. Professors, underclassmen and especially parents just can't grasp the concept of senioritis, and I don't think they will until they are put a senior's situation.

The answer is quite simple. It's a mindset. It's a feeling that overtakes your brain when you try to decide whether or not to do work or something else. It's something that tells you college only happens once, and since your time is almost up, have fun. Senioritis is inevitable. Four years have been spent trying to get good grades and work toward that ultimate job position when you graduate. At five weeks to go, you are going to slack off.

But this state of mind is not as much of a bad thing as some professors and authority figures may say. It is one of the best things that can happen to a college student, if he or she knows how to balance it.

Everyone is always trying to push the concept of time management. Well, having senioritis definitely makes a senior manage how much time they get to sleep, drink and eat as opposed to studying. Isn't that a life lesson in itself?

It is finding that happy medium, however, that allows students to get away with slacking. You cannot take it to the extreme. There has to be some sort of balance in the slack-off process you decide to take.

I have had more fun this year than any other year, but I do sometimes wonder if it will affect my grades. Then I realized that even though I may not be graduating on time my friends are. So, do I feel bad for having senioritis a little bit too early?

Not at all, and I can't wait to see what super-senioritis will be like.