Counselor Edition: They did Impactful Extracurriculars in High School
Tales to Inspire and Create ECs of Your Own
Dear Future Undergraduate:
Extracurricular Activities have become the staple of the High School Experience.
Every year students do more than the students of previous years - more involved, more sophisticated, and more impactful.
Some do it because colleges want you to,
Some due to peer and/or parents pressure,
While others do it because they have a passion and/or want to make a difference.
On my Podcast, College Alumni and Students shared the kinds of extracurricular activities they were involved in High School. They span School Clubs, Arts & Theater, Sports and Community Service.
Out of these stories, I have picked out some extracurriculars, that I thought, stand out, and organized them into these buckets:
Teaching
Activism
TV Show
Research
Enterprising
1. Teaching - Simplifying Concepts
It is absolutely fascinating to see students like Srihari and Skylar who take their proficiency in, say Science, and find ways to help others understand and appreciate the subject better.
Srihari Balaji, Union College
Physics came easily to Srihari.
At the start of the Junior year in High School, he was the lead Content Developer and editor for a team working on pedagogical projects.
The goal of Srihari’s project was to design hands-on modules in Physics, specifically in the field of mechanics for underprivileged high school students.
Explain concepts of statics and dynamics, in a more intriguing and more fun way to students from underprivileged backgrounds, especially junior and senior students across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
In the Junior year, Srihari focused on electricity and magnetism, and mechanics. But during the summer, he focused more intensively on concepts pertaining to springs.
Skylar Walters, Brown University
Skylar believes there's a really big problem in science. It is way too highbrow!
She believes there are many concepts that you can explain simply and easily with better communication.
That would lower barriers to learning Science and make it more accessible to others.
Which explains Skylar’s passion for media creation.
She’s always loved writing
She has always loved documentaries. When she was a kid her mom would force them to watch documentaries.
So, Skylar worked with a company called GoBeyond Labs to create podcasts and written media to take really complex subjects in science, and make them more straightforward and simple.
2. Activism
Aidan and Logan are great examples of high school students who wanted to fight for a cause that they were passionate about and that mattered to their community.
Aidan Arasasingham, UCLA
Aidan went to a public school in Southern California that has been underfunded for a long time.
When Aidan was in High School, there was a school shooting attempt at a nearby High School.
The incident rattled Aidan and exposed Aidan and all the students to the kinds of fear and danger in the school.
In particular, their classroom doors could be unlocked, in the event of an attack, leaving them vulnerable.
It spurred Aidan to action.
He helped organize a door to door campaign with parents and other students to try and get more funding for their school district, to make the necessary facilities improvements for student safety.
The County Tax Increase Measure to fund the schools passed for the first time in decades, and get the investments and funding for School safety!
Logan Lau, Stanford University
Logan is a Native Hawaiian.
Tobacco disproportionately affects Native Hawaiians. About 1/3 of high school students and 1/5 of middle school students use e-cigarettes on a regular basis.
This addiction wreaks havoc in the Native Communities.
As a high schooler, Logan got really passionate and embarked on a campaign to stop tobacco.
He led the Hawaii Public Health Coalition for Tobacco-free Hawaii's Youth Council, to squelch out tobacco.
Through their efforts, 6 Bills to stop or control e-cigarettes are in the Hawaii State Legislature.
Our voices actually matter!
3. TV Show
Holden Dahlerbruch is a Coke Scholar and a senior at Tufts University, double majoring in International Relations and Interdisciplinary Studies.
When Holden was in 8th & 9th Grade, he was in a TV Show Man vs Child: Chef Showdown! It was a cooking competition where Holden was one of the Child Chefs.
Holden and the other kids known as prodigies, were cooking against Executive Chefs, who had been cooking professionally for a few decades.
While Holden absolutely loved and enjoyed the TV experience, after the TV show ended, Holden started working in the community and discovered Food Trucks.
The Food Trucks offered lots of different cuisines at affordable prices, but they struggle to survive because they lack the resources and good legal support. And, Holden wanted to do something about it!
Holden started a company called Culinary Playground to help Food Trucks survive!
4. Research
Kevin Haworth, Goldwater Scholar, is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
When Kevin was in High School, one of his teachers had some connection with NASA.
His class got an opportunity to send experiments on the Space Shuttle. This was part of a NASA program to get students interested in Space Science.
Kevin and his school team sent multiple experiments on the Space Shuttle. The basic premise of the experiments was “Can You Grow Mosquitoes in Space?”.
That might sound a tad crazy, but Kevin says that there are some interesting ways as mosquitoes develop, that they actually use gravity.
So, the experiment was actually putting mosquitoes in a microgravity environment to see if they grow the right way.
While the experiments didn’t go as planned, it launched Kevin into Research!
5.Enterprising
Thomas Athey, Davidson
Thomas Athey is a junior studying PPE at Davidson College.
In High School, Thomas got interested in Finance. Especially in Investing & Trading.
Thomas had a buddy in High School with similar interests in Finance.
Together they bemoaned the lack of finance education in school. They decided to fix this. At least at their school.
They started a Summer Camp for rising 7th and 8th Graders at their school. It was a week-long course where they taught basic financial skills including stocks and bonds.
If the middle schoolers liked it, they could now pursue it further.
If they didn’t, they could use these basic skills in real life.
Based on this effort, Thomas and his friend later launched a company called Portfolio Kings to teach finance.
Rishika Kartik, Brown University
Rishika Kartik is a Freshman at Brown University.
In High school, Rishika started volunteering at the local centers for the blind.
She’d always been interested in art. Through her mentor, she was introduced to Tactile Art classes. It just blew her away to see art being performed without vision!
Rishika realized that these Tactile Art programs were in dedicated centers for students with disabilities and catered to a specific demographic.
She wanted to make these programs more widely available, easily accessible.
So she decided to take that program and implement them into a more public spaces like Museums,
Museums spark academic curiosity, and foster meaningful dialogue because you meet people from all different walks of life and you're shared in this desire to learn,
Museums supporting this mission have been growing.
Your Feedback
I hope you find these High School stories inspiring. Let me know what you think.
Better still, share what you are doing in High School.
January 2023 Podcasts Curated For You
1.Nathan Persampieri: On Founding a Scholarship
Nathan Persampieri is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Social Justice at Merrimack College in Massachusetts.
Nathan was interested in theater and photography in high school. In his upper class years, he started getting involved with the community, focusing on how to be compassionate towards people with disabilities.
Nathan is living with a rare neurological diagnosis.
Nathan joins our podcast to share his experiences on his undergraduate college journey at MassBay Community College & Merrimack, on Founding a Scholarship, and his Advice for High School Students with disabilities.
Hi-Fives from the Podcast are:
Overall Experience
Why MassBay?
Founding a Scholarship
Campus Activities
Advice for High Schoolers
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Nathan Persampieri. (3-Minute Listen).
2.Ian Cleary: Student Athlete at Oakland University Honors College.
Ian Cleary, who is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at Oakland University Honors College in Michigan.
In High School, Ian was deep into Math, Science and Technology. He did AP courses, and also Engaged in creative and research projects. He was a member of the school’s baseball varsity team.
And when time came for college, he was thinking - Sports Medicine!
Ian joins our podcast to share his undergraduate honors college journey at Oakland University, about being a student-athlete, his UG Research experiences, and Advice for college-bound students.
Hi-Fives from the Podcast are:
Overall OU Honors College Experience
Transition to College
Honors College Courses
UG Research
Advice for High Schoolers
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Ian Cleary of OU Honors College. (2.5- Minute Listen)
3.Sandra Foy: College Counseling for Students at Seattle Prep.
Sandra Foy is the Director of College Counseling at Seattle’s Jesuit College Prep School.
Sandra got her start in College Counseling when Seattle Prep changed direction to become a 4-year High School Program in the late ‘80s. She was part of the team that began offering a program to prepare their students for college.
Today, she is the Director of College Counseling at the school.
On our podcast, Sandra shares her background, her counseling approach, changes over the decades, managing expectations, and advice to high school students.
Hi-Fives from the Podcast are:
The Seattle Prep School
Role at the School
Approach to Counseling
Managing Expectations
Advice for High Schoolers
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Sandra Foy of Seattle Prep. (2.5-Minute Listen)
Finally, A Big Thank You to all my guests who have been generous with their time and counsel on my podcasts.
Have a Great February!
Venkat