Every activity in high school has a shelf life. Whether you’re a section editor of the school paper, a pitcher on the baseball team or the vice-president of the student government, at some point, your term will end, you’ll graduate, or you’ll just move on to something else. When that happens, consider leaving some knowledge behind for your replacement.
Maybe you just finished your term as the publicity director in your student government. Why not write a document of everything you learned while you were doing it, what you’d do differently if you could, and what you wish someone had told you before you started?
It wouldn’t have to be long. Just a page or two would be more than enough. It might contain things like:
*If you’re making 2-3 signs a week promoting different events, you’re doing a good job. But if you make 5-6 signs, you’re doing a great job and people will actually thank you for it.
*Someone will always feel like you’re not giving their group enough recognition. Try not to take this personally. All you can do is be fair and try to give as many groups some attention as you can.
*Dr. Rider (Vice Principal) gets upset whenever the marquee in front of the school is outdated. He’ll call you out of class over and over and ask you to fix it. But if you update it once a week, he’ll think you’re the greatest.
*The activities that don’t normally get a lot of publicity are also the people who will be the most thankful when you give them some. Don’t make it all about the football team all the time.
*Recruit people to help you with publicity for homecoming week. And start early. I had to make 16 signs two days before homecoming and it took forever.
Imagine how much that would help a new person.
Even better, imagine how much stronger the entire organization would be if everyone involved did this. What if every member of your school newspaper, yearbook, or Key Club made it his or her job to share some advice with the people who eventually replace them?
We try to do this at Collegewise by having counselors train new counselors and then refine the training at the end so that the next trainer can benefit.. Experienced essay specialists join our trainings of new essay specialists so they can share what they’ve learned. It’s not something we even have to think about doing anymore. We’ve just made it a habit.
Colleges are always looking for students who make an impact. One way to do that is to set your replacement up for success. Pay some knowledge forward by leaving yours behind for the next person.