<p>Hi! I’m currently finishing up my freshman year of HS in Vancouver, Canada. I’m really struggling to find prestigious/pretentious awards for someone like me and in my area. I got a 194 on the PSAT this October so I’m not super smart or anything. I love science, am a debater, play bassoon (a rare wind instrument), and write reasonably well but I can’t find anything to distinguish me from the other millions of people who will apply to the same colleges. I can’t even be a National Merit Scholar because I’m from Canada :X
Does anyone know of a science-y or debate-y or music-y thing that could distinguish me? </p>
<p>I’m smart enough, but not so smart that I could win the National Biology Olympiad or whatever. Please help :)</p>
<p>bumppp… please help me I’m desperate I’ll do anything!</p>
<p>…just kidding. But seriously, I would be eternally grateful if you would give me a hand.</p>
<p>Who you are as a person will distinguish you. You don’t need a gimmicky award to do that.</p>
<p>If you love science, then take rigorous science classes, and join a science club at school. If there isn’t one, start one. If you live nearby a university, find out if you can volunteer as a research assistant in a science lab. Tutor science to elementary school students in an after-school program.</p>
<p>If you love debate, keep on debating, and participate in competitions.</p>
<p>If you like the bassoon, play in your school’s band/orchestra. Find out if there are community amateur bands you can play in. If your community/province has an honor band, audition. (We had all-state band in high school that we could audition for.) Stay involved in the things you love.</p>
<p>I’m doing all of the above except for state bands because there is no equivalent in Canada 
I have my ECs pretty much down its just the awards I need to work on… Thanks for your help though :D</p>
<p>Do something near and dear to your heart, and do it well, and accolades will follow.</p>
<p>At my sons’ old high school, one girl became involved with Komen foundation. She got the girls on her soccer team involved. The girls’ team challenged the boys’ team, and the boys got involved. The soccer teams challenged the other sports teams/ECs at the school, and they all got involved. Their high school then challenged other high schools in the area.</p>
<p>The girl who originally got involved didn’t do this for her resume…she did it because her mother has breast cancer.</p>
<p>A boy at our temple became involved in a food pantry. He realized that having enough to eat is a big challenge for a lot of families, especially during the summer when students may not be receiving free breakfast and lunch. He started a “Pennies” campaign…asking students to drop their pennies in jars for the food pantry. He set up jars all over the school and in a lot of local businesses, and on the weekend before school got out, he and his friends went door to door to ask for pennies.</p>
<p>Both of these students had real accomplishments to put on their resumes. And it was clear that these students got involved out of a real passion, not just to receive a fancy certificate at a self-congratulatory award ceremony.</p>
<p>Both of these students received a lot of recognition.</p>
<p>Both got in to wonderful schools because they stood out from the pack. They each actually did something that mattered…in the real world…and schools new they would matter on campus as well.</p>
<p>So, OP, what can you do that will make a difference? Making a difference will make you stand out in a way that being involved in debate or science will never do.</p>