Frankly, no one can decide what story is considered unique. What considered unique for me, might not be for you and the others. Remember that usually you have at least 2 people reading your essays and they might have different opinions on your essays. If you ask the admission officers to re-read the essays from admitted students from 5-8 years ago, probably some of them might have a different sentiment on those essays. This just to show that there is clear definition of what makes things “unique”.
Being smart, having a rigorous classes never hurts. However, I’ve seen a lot of kids trying to do things haphazardly to tick all the boxes. Which brings me to the next point:
All the suggestions from the other members are right: try to apply sideways that you won’t feel that your hardwork is in vain if you don’t get into your dream college. Do whatever excites you and challenges you. Write essay that represents you, not the one that you think will fit in the college because it will look fake.
And your fellow competitors / students, will have their own achievements and unique stories too. Look at who got deferred at USC, Fordham, Notre Dame, Chicago, etc. They all excellent students with tons of ECs, APs and achievements. Almost all of them founded non-profits, volunteered, helped with fundraising, etc . So, find your passion, do it consistently and I always believe that there is a higher power deciding where we end up at college.
Good luck!