Don't Flock to the Same Extracurriculars - Try Something New
As an Independent Educational Consultant, aka a College Counselor, I am often asked about what kind of extracurricular activities will strengthen a college application. Students and families have often read a few books that offer up the “secret recipe” to help them be a “stand out.” It is no surprise, however, that recommended activities seem to blur together, whether that might be starting a small business or non-profit, investing in the stock market, taking pre-college courses, or volunteering at a local organization begging for volunteers and brimming with high school teens trying to accrue service hours. Ugh.
Instead of marching like a lemming down the road of least resistance or gathering with the gaggle of pink flamingoes, I say it’s time to go outside the box, get a little dirty, and try something you are not familiar with or maybe have not even heard of before. I say do something. What got me fired up was reading a NY Times article – about birds. While most high school students might not have loads of time to trek the earth, and I am in no way encouraging you to do something dangerous, it did make me think, why not become a birder? If you live in the Bay Area, there is the annual Great Backyard Bird Count in February, not to mention extraordinary bird watching at Bolinas. If you do not have ornithology-specific leanings, but are instead concerned about climate change, the need for help is limitless, and stepping beyond beach cleanups and plastic recycling is readily doable. Maybe you’re not a person to get out in the woods. Consider engaging and even building a coalition of folks (turning off your outside lights) in Audubon’s Lights Out Program, which provides “safe passage to migrating birds” across the nation.
Organizations that need volunteers:
What if you’re not an outdoorsy, in-the-woods type? Consider protecting animals differently, like fostering kittens or puppies. From what I have been told, a small bathroom or portable gated area might be more than ample room to nurture a small pack of fur babies until they're ready for adoption -and when they’re small and adorable, everything is smaller and more manageable and temporary – unless you fall in love easily. Trying something new, whether you’re a high school student or soon-to-be empty-nester, might be the trick to finding yet another meaningful experience in your life. My friend Liz has been fostering kittens for years – and this is what she says:
“I started fostering, literally, the day after we dropped Lauren at Princeton. I had been planning to start fostering when I retired, but I got started a few years "early" because we found five newborn kittens in our yard in early July of 2021. They still had their umbilical cords! I contacted the humane society, who found a foster for them who could bottle feed them until they were weaned, and then we got them back when they were old enough for me, a new foster at the time, to care for them. They were about five weeks old when I got them back. We ended up keeping one (a "foster fail," as they say), but have not kept any since because we now have a total of three adult cats. We've fostered 28 so far. And now I go over to the Humane Society in Pleasant Hill a few days a week to care for the kittens there waiting for adoption and I do "adoption counseling," which is helping families looking to adopt find the right kitten.”
More organizations that need volunteers, fosters, or interns:
Not an animal person – that’s OK. Maybe you have an eye for observation and documentation, photography, writing, or even creating a platform may be a way to communicate your perspective and your values. The biggest steps in trying something new are identifying what you care about and then looking around and exploring the untried, unheard of, and sometimes the unpopular to help choose what to do and when to start doing it. Following your interests and instincts about what excites you can be your best compass. Step into something new, untried, or self-invented. While it may take a little more effort or time, investing in you and your interests has the potential for personal growth in a way you never imagined.
Looking for tips, articles, and resources as you embark on your college journey? Add dream.search.apply. A Field Guide for an Inspired College Journey, and order today.
Have more questions or looking for more support? Email me at dane@collegeu.solutions
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