Extra-Curricular Activities and Volunteering
Volunteering is important during your high school years.Schools are looking for well-rounded students. That being said, your high school years should be filled with activities you have an interest in and enjoy; incorporating activities into your academic schedule while growing and sharing experiences with your classmates and community.
Having various extracurricular activities provide insight into the type of person you are; a cross section of interest and personality. It also gives them an example of how well you may fit in and even provide valuable insight on whether or not you will be an asset to their community.
Your volunteer experiences demonstrate to the schools the type of person you are and strive to be. Think of it as building a resume. We recommend creating a resume at the end of your freshmen year and continue to add to it after each year after that. This task will also come in handy at the beginning of each year providing a great way to access may be missing and how to move forward, ensuring you create a balanced high school year.
As mentioned earlier, your volunteer and extracurricular activities demonstrate a snapshot of who you are and where your interest lie. For example, is a student who volunteers every week at Rush Medical Hospital. Not only will this help her pursue a career in the medical field, but the number of hours and duties that she performs she show the school that she is serious about giving back to the community and helping others as well as balancing her commitments. It is an excellent example of how you can choose activities that benefit your possible areas of study you may be leaning towards.
Another example is a student that wants to be in Special Education. She sought out opportunities that would help her experience what that might be like. She chose to volunteer with Special Olympics and programs that are similar experiences. Not only can you add these skills to your resume, but you can also capitalize on them in your college essays when you are explaining your career paths and/or volunteer opportunities. Adding these experiences to your resume can validate your interest in a particular field or study.