The first 18-22 years of the average person's life can be summed up in one word: school. These first two decades of existence are spent learning, memorizing, and being passed on from one school to the next in a constant effort to prepare the youth for the challenges of the adult world.
The logic is simple: great success comes with great education. Times are changing, however. Today students find themselves a part of clubs, sports, and other extracurriculars, surrounded by a vast array of opportunities to discover a passion, to build character, and to build relationships with the students around them. There is, unfortunately, an issue with this. Rather than shrinking the level of work to accommodate for all of these activities, they are added to a bucket list of things students feel they are required to complete in order to progress to the next level. This is particularly true in today’s college-emphasized world, where many students feel they will not be able to contribute to the world if they do not get into an upper-level school. What began as the expanding of opportunities has, to many students, become more of a chore than an escape from school.
“Last year I did everything I could to look good for college, I participated in a whole slew of extracurricular activities, spreading myself way too thin. Soon my grades began to suffer and it was evident I bit off more than I can chew. I still thought that colleges would want to see a well-rounded person but how can I be both well-rounded and academically successful if being well rounded in the eyes of college admissions people entails spreading yourself really thin?” Newtown High School Junior Matt Tassiello said.
It is true that colleges want to see students involved in more than just school, but it is debatable whether or not these activities are as important as students think they are.
“I think that it’s annoying and overbearing because everyone is concerned about stacking up the most extracurriculars they can and they are not allowing themselves to do what they truly want to be doing because they think that is what colleges want,” Newtown High School junior Jack Palermo said.
This is a clear dilemma for students, a question of what needs to be done to please not only themselves, but the admissions officers that will evaluate their accomplishments. The answer to many, is everything. Everything, however, is not always the answer to colleges.
"Colleges want to see students who are involved and have something to offer their campus. Your high school transcript is still the number one factor in the decision of whether they accept a student or not. Balance is key, being a part of a few things outside of class and fully investing yourself in them is better than joining as many things as possible and being partially committed,” NHS Guidance Counselor Deidre Croce said.
Many students have found this balance, and it is these students who find themselves most relaxed and ready for school.
“I love hockey, and I love being good at hockey. I love leading, and not only being with friends but improving as a team. Same thing goes for marching band. I don’t feel forced to do it. It’s my decision,” NHS Senior Nick Chaloux said.
Perhaps it is not the pressure so much as it is the students biting off more than they can chew. After school activities are meant to be fun, they are meant to be what students love and look forward to after a long day at school. What makes a student stand out to college is not the number of activities they do, but rather the passion they put into them.
Image Courtesy of breakthroughmiami.com