<p>"Colleges do look at it. A friend’s daughter was validictorian, quite birlliant actually, but didn’t get into some of the top colleges. She didn’t have much else going on. I encourage my kids to join a club of interest, play some sport and do community service. "</p>
<p>I agree that it’s important to have balance. The reason I agree is that people need more than intellectual activities in order to have interesting lives, and to be able to meet people, handle stress, and stay energetic and creative. This is more important than how ECs can open the doors to top colleges. </p>
<p>Everyone needs hobbies. </p>
<p>It’s sad to see adults who center their entire lives around work and possibly watching TV. They tend to be dull people, and often their careers don’t even take off because having hobbies does lead to insights and creativity and friendships that are boosts on the job. Such people also tend to be very miserable in retirement.</p>
<p>I’ve been thrilled to see that my son who’s in college has been active in a variety of ECs including new ones. When he was in middle school and high school, I had to force him to do ECs. He was shy, and had a hard time making up his mind about what EC to choose. I’d give him a deadline to choose, and if he still couldn’t choose, I’d choose one for him that I thought he might like. My rule was that he could do that for a semester, and if he didn’t like it, he could switch into something else.</p>
<p>He did a lot of switching, until he took the facilitation training and found out he was really good at it, and enjoyed it a great deal. He also realized that one needn’t be perfect at something at first: That one could learn a skill. Having that training boosted his confidence and opened lots of doors for him. By the time he went to college, he was confident enough to try new things, and he wasn’t hard on himself when he didn’t start out doing them perfectly.</p>
<p>What’s funny is that as he has been trying new things, so have I. I got into acting in my city; he into acting in college. He got into ballroom dancing; I got into ballroom dancing in my city. We also each have gotten into activities that the other isn’t interested in. It has been fun sharing experiences.</p>