Need help concerning an extracurricular!Answered
Hello!
I'm trying to finish filling out my account to start connecting with the universities on my list, but I'm not sure exactly what to put one of my extracurriculars in as. For a few summers into the fall, I'd work afternoons running a small fruit & vegetable stand my grandpa owned mostly on my own (usually with my younger brother, though.) We'd handle all of the work during those shifts, including picking the plants, setting them out, handling customers and purchases, the whole ordeal. We also got to take back all of the profits we had earned each shift (he mostly gardens as a hobby, so he let us take the profits from the work we put in).
I don't want to undersell what I've done when putting this onto my profile, but I also don't want to oversell it. What should I put for its activity name, and for what level?
Thanks!
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2 answers
Well, I'd call it a seasonal produce stand worker/seller (word hippo can help you find good synonyms). Depending on what you're going into, you can also emphasize specific parts of the work. E.g., basic plant and business knowledge, social skills that require a lot of patience with customers, and the fact that it's your grandpa's small business.
That’s actually a great experience to include — it shows initiative, responsibility, and some business/entrepreneurial skills, which admissions folks love to see. You don’t need to frame it as something huge; just make it clear that you were managing real responsibilities.
You could list it under something like “Small Business / Entrepreneurship” or “Family Business Assistant / Manager” (depending on how formal you want it to sound). For the description, mention that you ran a local produce stand handled harvesting, setup, sales, and cash management independently during summer/fall seasons.
For level, I’d mark it as local/community since it’s not part of a national org, but that doesn’t make it less impressive consistency and real-world work always count.
If you want a bit more guidance on phrasing extracurriculars, CollegeVine has a handy guide on how to describe them well: How to Write Extracurricular Descriptions for College Apps -
blog.collegevine.com/how-to-describe-extracurricular-activities
You can also check out Common App’s activity examples
for formatting ideas.
commonapp.org/
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