
“Am I Doing Enough?”
I have some version of this question, "Am I doing enough?" more times than I can count.
Am I doing enough?
What else should I do?
How do I make my resume better?
What’s Really Going On Here
Fear.
You’re afraid that all the time and energy you have invested in after school activities, extracurriculars, sports, high school clubs, part-time jobs, and summer programs hasn’t been ‘enough’ to help you stand out in the crushing competition of university admission.
Your assumption is that some others will have more impressive awards, accolades, and achievements. You’re afraid they know something you don’t.
Misunderstanding.
As you build your high school resume, this persistent worry about doing “enough” is rooted (at least partially) in the misconception that without international competition titles, groundbreaking research, and accolades oozing from your activity section, you won’t impress the admission officers.
So, what should you do?
First, pause to calibrate a bit.
Most high school students participate in “normal” high school clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities. None are inherently better or worse than another. What differentiates the mundane from the great in extracurricular activities is active participation.
When you’re done calibrating a bit, consider working through the SIGNificance Exercise.
This is one of my favorite things to do with students, and you can download the DIY SIGNificance Worksheet here.
How to Know if You Are Doing Enough
Here’s the basics of what you should do to assess your extracurricular activities and (perhaps) determine the best extracurricular activities to undertake going forward.
Step 1
Collect all of your extracurricular activities, high school clubs, artistic endeavors, sports participation, and more into a high school resume document. Focus on documenting all the things you have chosen to spend your time from 9th to 12th grade.
If you already have a resume working, great! If not, download the resume template here.
Step 2
Once you have accounted for all of your activities from 9th - 12th grade, start ranking them by significance. Here’s the tricky part: you define significance. Why? Because what makes one extracurricular activity significant to you might be completely different from another person’s reasons, rankings, and justifications for the same.
To help guide you on the path of determining the the significance of your extracurricular activities on your high school resume, follow the SIGNs of significance.
(See what I did there? SIGN is an acronym within the SIGNificance Exercise. Clever, huh?)
Step 3
Using the DIY SIGNificance Exercise Guide, or in a Google Doc/Word document of your own formatted to include a table like the one below, work through your high school resume asking these important questions about each of your extracurricular activities.
Spark – How did this activity spark something interesting? Did it spark progress? Interest? Enthusiasm? Motivation? Was this sparked in you or a group? How do you know? What is the proof of that spark? What was the outcome of the sparked action?
Impact – What larger contribution or difference have you made in this activity? Even small efforts can have meaningful results. How would you measure that impact of your actions? The group’s actions? What is improved, innovated, or influenced in a positive way because of this group and specifically your participation in it?
Growth – How did this activity inspire personal growth? Growth in others? In a group effort over time? How did it grow the community? How did it develop your skills, knowledge, or understanding of something important? How would you measure the growth that resulted from this activity?
Navigate – What did you have to navigate in this activity? Did you have to navigate difficult situations, people, or outcomes? How did you navigate through this activity? How do you know that did it skillfully or successfully?
Activity Name: | |||
Spark – How did this activity spark something interesting? Did it spark progress? Interest? Enthusiasm? Motivation? Was this sparked in you or a group? How do you know? What is the proof of that spark? What was the outcome of the sparked action? | Impact – What larger contribution or difference have you made in this activity? Even small efforts can have meaningful results. How would you measure that impact of your actions? The group’s actions? What is improved, innovated, or influenced in a positive way because of this group and specifically your participation in it? What problem did you or the group work to solve? | Growth – How did this activity inspire personal growth? Growth in others? How did it help the community grow? How did it develop your skills, knowledge, or understanding of something important? How would you measure the growth that resulted from this activity? | Navigate – What did you have to navigate in this activity? Did you have to navigate difficult situations, people, or outcomes? How did you navigate through this activity? How do you know that did it skillfully or successfully? How did this activity help direct you to something else – another action, another learning opportunity, a career path, etc? |
Step 4
Consider your activities now that you evaluated their SIGNificance. Rank the activities from most significant to least and list them in this order on your high school resume.
In your own words, craft a short statement (~50-150 words) on the top 5-7 activities noting why it was significant to you.
Pro Tip: Focus on Your Unique Experience
When you wonder “Am I doing enough?” the problem is that you will never, ever be able to compare yourself to the thousands of other applicants out there who are working hard to earn university admission and college acceptances just like you. Also, “Am I doing enough?” distracts from the things that matter most in building your extracurricular profile and creating the best high school resume: purpose and impact.
As you with through the SIGnificance Exercise, you are really asking yourself, “What was the impact of this activity on me, my school, my peers, my larger community, my family?” You are understanding your own unique inspiration and the purpose that drives you forward.
When you complete the SIGNificance Exercise, you may find that some of your extracurricular activities are stronger than others. That’s OK. In fact, it’s sort of the point!
Pro Tip: High School Underclassmen
If you are still in the first few years of your high school career, use this as an opportunity to focus on making an even greater impact in the strongest activities on your resume or working harder to establish important influence and impact in the weaker ones.
Pro Tip: Seniors and Upperclassmen
If you are wrapping up your junior year or are a senior preparing for the application process, use this information to help you focus your essay responses and shape your application narrative to highlight where you have had the most impact in your extracurricular activities.
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