Hi,
So I taught myself how to write a unicycle when I was in 6th grade and since then I have taught 2 people how to ride. However, because of the nature of the activity its not like I can say I am a varisity level unicyclist or that I have won any awards or joined any clubs. I was wondering if I should mention is in the activities section (or anywhere else in my application) or not?
Despite not having many accomplishments I do think it is unique which is why I am still considering it.
The ability to unicycle is not relevant as a skill, but it could be vital to explaining how you have learned to connect with others, to be a leader, to teach, and to be comfortable as a center of attention. I don’t know much about unicycle, but have mostly failed to convince my S21 to address the time he spent doing magic (because he believes there is negative connotation). It may be bad to emphasize the manual dexterity needed to do magic tricks, but it would be a positive to address “patter” – the skill of communicating with the audience.
You will probably find other ways to stand out in the future, but your experience with the unicycle may help you connect, lead, teach, and take risks.
Yes, this is a cool activity. How much time do you spend doing it? I’d put it in the activities section if you do this frequently. If it’s just the occasional thing, mention it in the additional info section, along with teaching others how to do it.
As a parent (so no special expertise, though I’ve now shepherded 3 kids through the process) I believe that things that are a little unusual, that make you stand out, are always good to highlight in some way. I could see an adcom reader thinking it would be a nice thing to add to the campus – a kid that likes to unicycle and likes to teach others. Is that something they are specifically looking for? Of course not. But if I were on that adcom I’d take the unicyclist in a heartbeat over the thousandth secretary to the investment club I’d seen.
(it goes w/o saying that the unicycle part is the icing on the cake of your application, and that other things are more important etc etc etc).
Thanks for the help! Since it’s something that I do almost everyday I’ll put it in the activities section.