Now that the school year is officially underway for many students, here are five tips to help you enjoy your activities this year and turn them into a college admissions advantage:
1. Make an impact.
Passive participants do only what they have to do to stay involved. But students who make an impact want to make contributions that would be missed if they stopped participating. Yes, you can make an impact by being the best player on the team, the first chair violinist in the orchestra, or the president of the student body. But you can do just as much good as the team manager, the still-improving saxophone player who organizers the bus trips for the marching band, or the member of the Spanish club who learns how to make authentic food for your club meetings. Don’t just show up; put your energy into what you’re doing.
2. Prune your involvements.
Happy and successful students want to spend their time doing activities they really enjoy. If you’re involved in anything that isn’t making you happy, consider quitting that activity and reallocating that time to something else. This doesn’t mean you should quit something just because you aren’t excelling at it. Lots of benchwarmers, understudies for the school play, and role players without leadership positions enjoy what they’re doing and get into plenty of colleges.
3. Don’t worry about what “looks good to colleges.”
Successful college applicants didn’t get that way by picking activities because they thought it would help their resumes. They chose activities that really enjoyed and had faith that colleges would appreciate the energy and commitment they put into them. It’s not what you do with your time outside of class. It’s the passion you have for it that makes colleges recognize that you could bring the same trait with you to college no matter how you choose to spend your time once you get there.
4. Don’t feel pressure to follow the crowd.
Just because everyone else at your high school seems to be involved in a particular club or organization doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, too. If a popular club looks interesting to you, go for it and get involved. But otherwise, have the confidence to chart your own path and choose what’s right for you.
5. Remember that passion doesn’t have to be for life.
Many seventeen-year-old students aren’t 100% sure what they want to do during or after college. So if you love writing poetry but don’t want to be an English major, keep writing! If you love playing on the water polo team but would rather spend your college years dry and doing something else, no problem. Your part-time job, volunteer work, club participation, or any other interest don’t have to be part of your future plans to be valuable to you and to colleges. Just think about what you like doing today and put your all into it. If you continue during or after college, great. But if not, the lessons you learn while making an impact will be valuable no matter how you decide to spend your time in the future.