Is it time to start focusing?

Applying to College
1

<p>As my sophomore year comes to a close and I approach the midpoint of high school – and the all-important junior year – I find myself in a slight dilemma. I’m not sure if I should stick with all of the ECs that I currently do or if I should drop one or more and choose to focus on the others. See below for a list.</p>

<ul>
<li>Journalism (co-copy editor (10), online editor (10) – started this year, will definitely be a section editor next year, maybe editor-in-chief (I would be one of about three juniors to ever do so, and the first since 2006)</li>
<li>Academic Decathlon (6 medals at county meet, team won county championship for first time ever, I had the highest score on the team at both county and state) – because it was our first year going to state, we did quite horribly, but I really want to do well next year. This was my first year doing this. STRONG chance that I will be captain next year – at least according to this year’s captain.</li>
<li>Future Business Leaders of America (Secretary (9), President (10)) – good results at section conferences, only member to place at state last year but did not advance to nationals, probably will not this year. I could probably become president again next year if I run.</li>
<li>Marching Band (9-10) – No leadership experience as of yet, but I would probably be elected to a position in Band Club next year and senior year, probably would be section leader senior year. The band is small and terrible, though, so there won’t really be any awards to speak of – I do it purely for the fun of playing. </li>
<li>Small things: International Club, CSF, National Honor Society – not really involved at all at this point, but may be in later years.</li>
</ul>

<p>I am also considering applying for an internship with the local newspaper. Several of the elder editors in Journalism have served as interns in the past and really recommend it, and offered to put in a good word for me. </p>

<p>Now that almost all of the college decisions have been released, I’ve been perusing through the results threads and noticed that the majority of people who are accepted to the top 20 schools really do EXCEL at what they do. I feel like I don’t really have this – I feel too average in the things that I do, at least when compared to people outside the fishbowl of my school.</p>

<p>My question ultimately boils down to whether or not I should quit Marching Band. On the one hand, I enjoy it a good deal, and I feel like it challenges me in ways that are different than my other activities. On the other, though, I know that I am not and will never be the best musician or marcher – even simply in my band – and I know that the band will never accomplish anything impressive within the next two years. I also know that there is literally no chance that I will ever do anything at all with music as a career – however, I think the possibility exists that I might join a community band or the equivalent in college and beyond. </p>

<p>I feel like I can definitely accomplish great things in Journalism and AcaDeca, and potentially FBLA. I just don’t feel like that’s the case with Marching Band, except possibly in the way of character-building. </p>

<p>What should I do?</p>

2

<p>Pursue those activities which you enjoy and ideally in which you will grow and excel. Better is to do a few things extremely well than many adequately. </p>

<p>From a college application perspective a long list of ECs doesn’t help, and such a list is often unconvincing. What is the one personal stellar achievement in each of the 2-3 ECs that you expect to showcase? So titles, such as “president” of a club, are not in and of themselves those type of achievements. What the club has done to help the community, and your personal role in leading that effort can be that kind of achievement.</p>

3

<p>As far as personal achievements that I’d hope to showcase, they vary by activity. For Journalism, it may be winning an Online Pacemaker award. We were nominated for the award this year for the website that I ran during the judging process, and I am currently working with the digital editor, who designed that site, to create a new one, which should get nominated and may win. I would also like to win a Pacemaker for the newspaper, but that seems incredibly unrealistic – not on the basis of quality (but there is a TON of room to grow there), but rather because the people who award that Pacemaker have a different set of journalistic values than our organization does. However, immense growth is not only possible but needed – I don’t know that there would be an award to put down, though. </p>

<p>For AcaDeca, my personal goal is to a. defend our county championship and b. place in the top three students in my division at states – that would almost guarantee winning medals in individual events as well. </p>

<p>I’m not so sure about FBLA. I’d like to get to Nationals, but I don’t know if I’d really be able to impact the community with that club. It’s definitely something to think about, though. </p>

<p>Band – again, nothing that would really change anything. ALTHOUGH, I could work on organizing more events in the community – I tried to work with a club on campus that supports breast cancer awareness to get the band to play at their Walk for the Cure, but it fell through. </p>

<p>I don’t really know about the other things, but the International Club does hold an International Festival every year that celebrates different cultures from around the world – could be used to unite the community by bringing in people who immigrated from different countries.</p>