Every student has felt it before—the row of blank lines on an application and the accompanying pressure to have every empty row filled.
With the school year falling into routine, students across campuses nationwide are rushing to join new clubs and activities. After all, high schoolers are encouraged to join clubs in pursuit of self-discovery, growth, and conveniently, a hypothetically improved college application.
While some of these activities are pursued with true interest, many are formed for the purpose of boosting resumes. A student with a grocery list of clubs and extracurriculars can look impressive on the surface, but the overwhelming number of them dilutes the value that could have been gained otherwise. Club meetings are skipped, officer positions are held for title over responsibility, and the development of true skills is undermined.
The pressure to join as many extracurriculars as possible also impacts peer culture. Especially as students advance to upperclassmen, they may feel pressured to join as many clubs as their peers to be worthy of comparison. This competitive culture also causes the clubs themselves to suffer, as they lose initiative and impact. Sponsors find themselves hosting unengaged members rather than mentoring motivated ones.
Admissions officers and recruiters do value impactful participation, but over the years, they have been able to recognize empty participation and weightless resume boosters. A student who cannot recall meaningful memories and lessons learned from participation in extracurriculars in essays or interviews is often a red flag for a student whose involvement is superficial.
Beyond college, the lack of meaningful activities can also rob students of developing skills that would allow for true growth and development. When students are so focused on developing a long resume as quickly as possible, they lose sight of the true purpose they should be following.
That is not to say joining clubs is an aimless pursuit. The value of special extracurricular experiences is undeniable when interest is sincere. Take a moment to reflect: Why are we joining these clubs? What are we aiming to learn from participating? Are we looking to hold an officer position or fill a resume gap, or to gain experience and qualities that can be transformed into real knowledge?
High school clubs and activities should be treated as a laboratory for discovery, not a checklist of membership forms to turn in and a quota of club meetings to attend. Treating clubs as nothing more than mere application boosters denotes the true value of impactful participation and dedication.