Extracurricular ideas?

Applying to College
1

I am a student entering junior year who is very interested in South Asian and Middle Eastern studies (languages, history, culture, etc). I’m also very interested in IR, specifically with South Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Some relevant ECs:

Model UN (this sounds like a lot of fun, I’m thinking of opening a section for my school).

I do writing on ME/SA history and affairs in my own Wordpress. I also like to tweet and engage online and I have quite a following on my account where I share my articles and discuss politics. This is something I’ve began doing as a hobby but I’ve started to take it seriously. I’ve done plenty of activism online.

I’m currently in Operation Smile, a club where we raise money for doctors who work with facial deformities in the third world. However, this isn’t much of a commitment and my club hasn’t done much. Should I drop this?

I read a lot of books (on–you know it already), is this an extracurricular?

I’m also studying French and Arabic, two things I really enjoy and I want to pick up a third lanaguage (Hindi). For this reason I’m applying to NSLI-Y in hopes I can attend next summer! That would be amazing. If I can’t go to India and learn Hindi, Arabic in Morocco or Jordan interests me as well as Persian in Tajikistan. I’m looking into other study abroad programs for senior year (YES abroad) because I really want to experience studying abroad in one of those countries.

I was thinking of conducting research at one of the local colleges (which are decently ranked) with a professor. I’m interested in academia and publishing work.

Any other ideas I would love to hear. :slight_smile:
I’m probably majoring in South Asian studies or IR.

2

I’m blown away by how many things I’ve even found about on here (like NSLI-Y). This website is interesting.

3

Also, consider Stanford Reschaud SPICE Scholarship program if you want to challenge yourself to learn history and culture of another country. Tough to get in though, limited to around 24 students.

4

As to Operation Smile, it depends on whether or not you’re really interested in the club or it’s just a filler activity.
Some other ideas would be writing for your school newspaper, submitting your articles to magazines or websites with a larger following, and partaking in Model Congress as well as Model UN.