A little reminder: Enjoy it

It’s a stressful time of year right now. The seniors are weeks away from making one of the biggest decisions they’ve made in their lives. The juniors have SATs, APs, and the most important HS summer ahead of them. The college students are prepping for finals (I’ve got my stress chocolate at the ready).

And while all of these tests and papers and class commitments are buzzing around and coming to a crescendo, we’re also all overcommitted to 100 different activities, clubs, jobs, lessons, and we’re still expected to see our friends! There just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done.

So here’s a little reminder that I think we all need: You’re supposed to be enjoying your clubs. They’re extracurriculars. You volunteered to do them, and while you’re committed to them, there are things that are much more important (school and mental health, for example).

If you’re really not enjoying your clubs, reevaluate why you’re participating in them.

Personal stories instead of hypotheticals today:

When I was a junior in high school I was crazy overcommitted. I did 5ish plays a year in theatre, was in the crazy competitive singing group (remember Vocal Adrenaline from Glee? Like that), was taking a very hard course-load, didn’t have a lunch period or study hall, and I participated in about a million other clubs.
So what did I do?
I dropped the club that I cared about least.

I was a very competitive in forensic speech tournaments in high school. I was very good and had a ton of awards. But I didn’t really enjoy it. I liked the acting part of it, but I practiced on my own because I didn’t like the people. I hated giving up my Saturdays to go to tournaments. Once my sister graduated I didn’t have anyone to hang out with at away tournaments, which meant I had to room with people I didn’t get along with/didn’t like.

So I dropped it. I stopped competing about halfway through junior year.  And I never looked back.

I know, you’re all gasping and going “How do you drop a club junior year!? You need to have 4 year commitments and officer positions in everything!”
I dropped it because sometimes you have to do what will make you happy. Because yes, clubs look good for college, but you’re supposed to do them because you like them. You’re supposed to enjoy yourself.

So if you’re really hating it, think long and hard about why you’re participating.

Most people have 2-3 high commitment clubs, and even without Forensics I still spent 50+ hours a week in extracurriculars and lessons.

They’re looking for depth of commitment, not breadth. So if you have an extra club or two that you do but aren’t super into, or just find them to be miserable time-sucks, maybe it’s time to consider spending that time on other things.

I know at times it seems like everything you do in high school is for college (and there are people who think like that), but it’s not. You do clubs because you want to spend time on things you enjoy.

No club should make you miserable. And no club is more important than your health, academics, or happiness.

Sometimes you have to put things on hold or take a break from things because you’re too busy. Don’t drop everything, but sometimes its okay to take a hiatus to focus on grades or tests. I know that my parents always said I could only audition for a new show if I was doing well in school (which, oddly, was motivation for me to do well and keep balancing, I loved theatre more than anything in high school). It’s okay to turn down an offer if you can’t handle it. Learn to say no.

If you can’t handle a higher commitment (being captain of a sports team, editor in chief of a newspaper, the lead in a Shakespeare play where you’ll have to spend 5 extra hours a week just learning the lines) don’t take on that commitment.  It’s hard to say no to a great offer, but sometimes you just can’t take on any more.

Make sure that you’re enjoying what you’re doing. This is about you. Applications are all about demonstrating your passion. If you’re not passionate about things, don’t fake it.

I was asked exactly once about dropping forensics (Hamilton College, my best college interview, didn’t apply because I got into my ED school, WHOOPS). My answer “I loved competing and was sad to see it go, but I took on so much more time and leadership in theatre junior year that it wasn’t feasible to keep both of them. Theatre and performing are much more important to me than winning a few tournaments.”  
And then we talked about my theatre commitments for a while, and my interviewer basically said, “So theatre is basically 5 clubs in 1 for you?”
Which was so painfully accurate.
They want to see what makes you tick, what you’re passionate about, what keeps you going. Don’t keep something that doesn’t ignite that passion in you.

Things you like might be stressful from time to time, but you deal with the stress because you love them. If you’re just “putting up” with an activity, it’s probably not a good use of your time.

Do what makes you happy. Enjoy your activities.