Throughout my freshman and sophomore years of high school I tried various different clubs and ECs at my school, only to find that in my very wealthy town most of the kids in these clubs are stuck up snobs who are just in it for college and don;t make an effort to show up, try, or do anything useful for the club. Other clubs consist of the very elite kids who looked down upon me when I tried to join debate, would laugh if I messed up cause they know they’re smarter than me, and overall just made me have a bad experience.
The only one I discovered I really loved was Key Club, in my sophomore year. Through this club which basically consisted of opening my eyes to various volunteer opportunities in my community, I discovered my love for volunteering. I love because I love helping people and it gives me so much joy to see the smile on their faces. I’m also able to work with such kind people who go to other schools and it has been a way for me to make so many other friends. Currently, I am volunteering at a local hospital (I am volunteering in the Pediatric playroom, so I am playing and hanging out with kids with cancer and other diseases to make their stay int he hospital more enjoyable), a summer school for kids with special needs, the local YMCA (in the kid center and kirby classes), at my local youth group teaching kids about my faith, and the local community house (in the afternoons teaching kids how to cook). Yes, I do love working with kids haha.
My point is, these volunteer opportunities have become my extracurriculars because I enjoy them so much more than anything my school has to offer. However, I know these are not the same to colleges because they are not technically extracurriculars. Will this hurt me in college admissions? The only extracurriculars I have at school are I play volleyball and softball (for both: freshman team (1 year), jv team (1 year), varsity (2 years) hopefully captain for both senior year and key club (3 years). Will this hurt me for college admissions? I have a very rigorous schedule, hopefully good SAT scores (have not taken year), and good grades. I dream of applying to schools like Duke and Georgetown, but a little more likely would probably be Boston College, Bucknell, and Lehigh (still reaches).