Mike Wasowski is President of the It's Academic! Team and National Honors Society (NHS). In addition, he is a member of the following: Odyssey of the Mind, Young Republicans, Prom Committee, Golf, Football, SHS (Science Honors Society), SHS (Spanish Honors Society), Debate Team, Key Club, Rotary Club, Amnesty International, Big Brother/Big Sister, Help Save Our Environment, Model United Nations, and Young Democrats.
Zzz.
Here's the truth: It is not advantageous to sign your name on 17 activity rosters.
I haven't finished the college application process, nor am I an admissions officer, but I would wager my own imaginary acceptance letter that no sensible person would be impressed by the small mountain of "credentials" presented above. My logic is that if you and I have little interest in reading padded résumés, so will the admissions office, which no doubt encounters thousands of these a day come January.
Therefore, do not feel pressured to join the Fur Trimming Club for Underprivileged Felines.
In all seriousness, engaging in extracurricular activities (ECAs) is not supposed to be an excruciating experience. (Of course, I felt compelled to join Debate Team because of my lack of oratorical skill prior to high school. As some of my companions from Eastern Middle School may recall, I had a habit of refusing to participate in Socratic seminars and an irrational fear of ordering my own lunch from the school cafeteria. That said, my passion for debate and my love for the team eventually overshadowed urges to run screaming out of the tournament hall.)
The bottom line is that you should care deeply for what you do. It may seem that the safest bet is to join as many ECAs as possible; if that were true, every John, Mary and Alice would be accepted into schools of Ivy League caliber. It is much more difficult, and infinitely more commendable to put honest effort into your work.
Choose your activities prudently; if you make your selections well, you will reap colossal rewards.
I certainly did.
There's also the issue that if you juggle too many extracurriaculars, your actual academic courses are going to suffer greatly.
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly not a proponent for doing things you don't believe in simply because some huge, faceless organization called "college" deems it proper that you do so. Personally, I had half of a flimsy ECA (completed two Cross Country seasons). Sure, I could have tried to find my passion, but you know what? My passion is music, and I fulfill that by playing my instruments at home, in band class, and with my buddies. That's it. If the colleges want me to be something more than I am, screw 'em. I'm taking my wonderfully subsidized state-school education, and I'm freakin' ecstatic about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that one shouldn't strive to be in the best school you can be in, but it just isn't worth the time, effort, and money to me. I'm one of the laziest muthahubbas on the planet, so my values are completely different than those of someone who has a five-year plan that they are determined to follow through with.
P.S.: Nice Monsters Inc. reference.
Margarita - Definitely true. I urge students to challenge themselves, but not to the extent that their lives begin coming apart at the seams.
ReplyDeleteBerraco - Completely agree. How you choose to develop as an individual both in and out of high school is up to you, because only you would know what you want out of life.
P.S. Isn't it wonderful?