Seth Godin’s recent post is meant to inspire people to do great work before they apply for a job, rather than waiting for the right job to do great work. That got me thinking about high school students who are planning for college. If you’re a freshman, sophomore, or junior, what would happen if you spent this academic year coming up with answers to some—or all—of these questions? You’d have some pretty great evidence to show colleges about just what kind of impact you make both in and out of the classroom.
- Tell us about a non-academic achievement that you worked hard to earn.
- Show us an example of academic work that made you proud.
- Tell us about a difference you’ve made—something or someone that changed because of you or your work.
- What’s an example of something you learned on your own time because it interested you, whether it was academic, athletic, technological, musical, artistic, etc.?
- Tell us about a teacher who really inspired you. What’s the most valuable thing he or she taught you?
- Is there something we can look at—a website, YouTube video, blog, etc.—that could tell us more about you?
- What’s the best example you could point to of the type of student and community member you’ll be if you were to join our freshman class?
- If we could ask one teacher, one friend, and one other person who is not related to you to tell us more about you, which three people would you like us to speak with, and why?
Spend less time searching for the magic formula that will make your dream college say yes (that formula doesn’t exist), and spend more time producing great work. Not perfect work, necessarily—part of doing great work means occasionally failing in spite of your efforts, learning from it, and then getting back to work. But in the long run, great work pays off no matter which colleges admit you.