Your high school likely has lots of choices of activities you can try—sports, clubs, drama, music. And plenty of students find the activity fulfillment they need right there on campus.
But if nothing at your high school seems quite right for you, look outside. There are plenty of things you can do in your local community that can be just as rewarding as on-campus activities are for some kids.
Get a part-time job.
Enroll in courses at a community college.
Work as a docent at a local wildlife park and lead tours.
Take a karate, ceramics, or yoga class.
Coach a youth soccer team.
Take an EMT class and work with paramedics on the weekends.
Look on Craigslist for “Musicians wanted” and join a local band.
Go antiquing.
Go bird watching.
Every one of these examples is something that a Collegewise student did and listed proudly on college applications. Several of those students even wrote essays about their outside involvements.
I’m often asked if colleges will view involvements outside of school (or even just hobbies) the same as they will on-campus activities. For the most part, the answer is yes with one caveat. It’s good to show some way that your activity impacts other people. For example, if all you do is play online video games, that’s primarily a solitary activity. It’s not really benefitting anybody else other than the people who get to play against you online.
But if you organize tournaments, or work in a video game store, or write a blog that helps new players learn the ropes, now you’re onto something.
There’s nothing wrong with doing something just for you that doesn’t involve anybody else. But part of succeeding in college means you have to be able to get along well with other people. They want students who will be interesting and impactful additions to the campus community. So make sure you find some way to show colleges how you make an impact, whether you do so on campus or off of it.