- rising sophomore
- interested in applying/majoring in Economics and/or Linguistics
I’ve been recently thinking about my extracurriculars and I realize that compared to my twin sister I don’t really have any leadership position/extracurriculars I’ve started. My sister is on the leadership board for clubs such as:
Model UN (of which she founded and is president of. I am the treasurer)
Interact Club (community service group, she’s on calling committee)
Program for low-income students (she’s our grade representative along with two others)
YMCA Youth Coalition (currently student lead and will be going to DC next year for a leadership conference)
I feel really lost and kinda inferior to my sister and I don’t really know what to do. I have ideas of extracurriculars to do, but I’m unsure how to start them. Ideas such as fundraising for refugees, tutoring elementary kids (along with underprivileged children in my area), etc. I also want to apply to summer programs such as YYGS, NSLIY, etc. but am scared that my lack of leadership roles will get me rejected. I’m not sure what to do, so any advice would help.
Well, I guess if you never try to get into these programs, you'll never know whether you had a shot in them or not. Rejection is not something bad it's pushing you to develop yourself, so you should definitely apply. If you want to tutor kids then you can even create a club and find people who are interested in this too. And please don't compare yourself to your sister, all people are too different to compare them, but I'm sure you both are amazing, high-achieving individuals. Keep going and stop doubting yourself you're fascinating too:)
Instead of worrying about what you lack, try thinking about what you want to do. I encourage you to pursue your interest. Maybe your ecs are not the best. However, you can think about what you can do at this point. If you lack leadership position, try making a club to start with. For example, since admission officers look for students with impact, you can first list ideas of nonprofit organizations on the internet that have significant influence on the society. Last but not least, make sure you build connections / network of your own. Having such will always serve useful when doing your ecs.
To keep this community safe and supportive:
Thank you for your encouraging words! I know that me and my sister are two different people but I feel that it’s hard for me specially to feel inferior in comparison to her since we both are the same age and in the same grade. I’m definitely going to give those programs a shot though even if I get rejected, it’s all a learning experience.