During COVID I'm sure you've realized it can be difficult to find ways to get involved in groups and explore your interests. As you work to get A's in your classes, there are still ways to boost your extracurriculars during the pandemic to develop hobbies outside of class and to have a well-rounded college application. The following are quotations from an article on doing just that, boosting your extracurriculars during COVID. Colleges are most interested in extracurriculars that give back to society, hone transferable skills, and let students explore their interests. Extracurriculars that give back Since social distancing is still the best practice, students should make the most out of virtual volunteering opportunities. Volunteer Match remains one of the largest volunteering networks for nonprofits and volunteers to connect and collaborate with each other. Organizations such as the Borgen Project are encouraging students to reach out to Congress members by email or letter about key legislation concerning global poverty. Students can also use this time to impart their own talents and skills; for instance, organizations like TeensGiveare recruiting volunteers across the country to help reach and engage with communities on a needs-based basis. Extracurriculars that build transferable skills Developing transferrable skills is crucial for college success as well as for future internships and jobs that may utilize skills and applications like Python, coding, web design, and more. Dominic Harvey, Director of the UK IT jobs site CWJobs, calls online education platforms “modern masterpieces of world literature” given what they’ve done in revolutionizing education. Online learning platforms such as Edx and Coursera offer strong foundational courses on some of these topics and skills as well as certificates of completion, which are always good to have to boost your résumés or a college essay. On the foreign language front, Duolingo and Italki are great ways to begin learning a language from scratch; Italki even offers students the opportunity to take one-on-one classes based on their language level. Extracurriculars that foster passion and pursuit If you’re unsure of what you want to take up, start by curating a list of clubs that are still offered safely at your high school that also match your interests and pursuits. Now is also a great time to have your parents share their own professional wisdom and introduce you to the platforms such as LinkedIn so you can begin building your own professional profile and connections. In an article from Inside Higher Ed, college counselor and consultant Susan Chan Shifflett suggests using this time to “stand out” and “think out of the box.” Admission officers are now looking for new and dynamic qualities that can help ascertain a student’s resourcefulness. One of the best ways for students to continue to diversify their skills and knowledge base is by engaging in their areas of interest. During this time, there are a variety of colleges offering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). You can also try looking into other academic and skill-developing platforms likeUdemy, Skillshare, and Academic Earth. Read the full article over at collegexpress
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