The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

    Apply yourself

    by Michelle Yousefzadeh



    At the last junior class meeting of the year, while


    stuffing our faces with doughnuts brought by my


    dean, all the kids in my dean group stared up at


    the projected image of the Common Application


    — a maroon tinted questionnaire that if filled with the


    right answers, letters and scores would ultimately grant us


    acceptance to the colleges of our dreams.


    As I read through the different categories that I would


    have to manage to fill during summer, I couldn’t help but


    think of which words would have the most impact on a


    college admission officer, and how I could get those words to


    describe me. I must not have been the only one thinking this


    because I’m a part of a student body who’s choosing how to


    spend our time based on how many of those blank lines the


    activity would fill.


    The form asks for positions held, honors won or letters


    earned for any activities that the applicant dedicates time


    to. This especially makes me question what the colleges


    are searching for — are they looking for students who are


    passionate or students who are leaders, and if you’re not a


    natural born leader, where does that leave you?


    It leaves you with a bunch of blanks that mock your


    “noninvolvement”. Instead wouldn’t a space for “what have


    you contributed to the activity” be a more appropriate


    column heading?


    It seems to me that when given these objectives to live up


    to, students will spend their time doing activities that they


    know they can earn leadership positions instead of thinking


    of what new input they can give to the club or project to


    make it better than before.


    I’m not saying that by holding a leadership position a


    student can automatically be convicted for having alternative


    motives than the betterment of the club, just that students


    should consider that they can be a part of an activity even


    without being crowned “leader.”


    There is more to life than getting a leadership postition.


    Students should look beyond superficial titles and instead


    become involved in clubs that they are truly interested in.

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