help for extraccuriculars!Answered
Hi, I'm a junior in high school. I have perfect grades, all straight A's, 4.0 GPA, but I have no extracurriculars. I moved to my new high school by the 2nd semester of high school, and my previous high school had no extracurriculars or clubs. Due to the pandemic, I have not been able to join or do anything. My current high school offered no extracurriculars for virtual students. I have tried to do my own initiatives, but no one joins them or helps me. I need ideas for extracurriculars.
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4 answers
Hi!
First of all, congrats on your 4.0, that's a massive achievement! And ugh, extracurriculars are the worst. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum where I've done a LOT and rn I'm trying to wade through all of them and figure out which ones pertain the most to my interests.
Honestly that's what I'd recommend for you- figure out what you're interested in. Doesn't have to be something related to a career!! If you like English, join National English Honors Society or join a writing club. If your school doesn't have NEHS, start a chapter! That looks great on college apps.
But maybe you're not sure what you're interested in, which is totally valid btw. If that's the case, join whatever small clubs there are. Sample a few, go to a meeting here and there, and stick with the communities that you like. With school hopefully returning to somewhat normal this coming year, you'll have a LOT more opportunities to get to know your school and everyone in it.
ps- if you need to start a club and have to get a teacher's approval (I think I saw you say that? idk lol), make friends with your teachers!! they prob already like you because of your high grades/class engagement. figure out who's personalities you like and who's you don't. if they like you, they'll start a club with you and vice versa!!
pps- if you're needing a few ec ideas, some of the ones I'm in are: model un, student council, theater, girl up, key club, mental health club, national latin honors society, national english honors society, and national thespian society. I also work at an ice cream shop as an ice cream scooper! if you can/if the current state of covid wherever you live allows for it/your parents are ok w it, get a job. colleges count that as an ec and it shows massive amounts of responsibility.
I hope this helped a little bit, good luck with your newer high school and ECs!!
For ECs it's important to remember to pick things that genuinely interest you. Counselors have told me time and time again they can pick out if someone is only doing something because they think it will make them look good and not because they actually care about the cause.
Here are the things I or some of my classmates are doing.
1. Crafting, find a niche, like for me I like cardmaking. The cards get donated to hospital patients so this is a way to turn a hobby you would do regardless into an EC.
Similarly, my classmate knits and crochets hats and blankets for babies to be donated to various organizations. Some donate to hospitals for low income families and others to different types of shelters. There are lots of options here as there are so many different types of crafts. If your into drawing or any type of craft/hobby that makes actual pieces of traditional art like paintings or maybe sculptures you could try to sell them and donate the proceeds or start a small etsy business. That of course takes a lot of time and additional research. If you do have paints you could see if any nonprofit auctions is looking for donations.
2. virtual tutoring, it can be paid as a job which is also an EC or volunteering. I've seen a few different organizations for this as well so you would have to pick one you like. Some are for teaching English as a second language and others are more traditional tutoring for little kids in core school subjects.
My advise is to go crazy on google to find some relating to your interests. I'm not gonna lie, it took a week or so to actually get some results and I got discouraged in the process but in the end I found some things I could do. For example if your into being eco friendly you could search for community groups to join that promote eco conscienceless in various fields. Currently most organizations have online options. I don't know what state your in but you could try to volunteer at a food bank as that is something that has stayed open throughout the pandemic or see if you can get involved at a senior center as covid hit them hard to. I heard some had opened penpaling for them so they don't get lonely. Of course having authority positions in clubs and organizations looks best but all you can do is try your best with the resources you have. If all else failing you can mention it in the extra info portion of the application.
NOT PROOFREAD.
I'll try to fix it later.
There are many resources you can search up to help find extracurriculars you can do at home or out of school, including college vine extracurricular guidance/ blog.
I find this site very helpful if you need ideas on what to do.
https://blog.collegevine.com/extracurriculars-you-can-do-at-home/
If you have any passion for a certain hobby or hobbies, then try to expand that love for the hobby by maybe helping the community or teaching others the hobby, etc.
Do you have any passions or extracurriculars that interest you? What are some topics you are interested in? Maybe try to start your own club. I hope this helps.
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I have actually tried to start my own club, but I didn't know any teachers to help me start it. In my high school, we have to have teacher approval.