When it comes to extracurriculars, I would label myself as someone who is pretty self-motivated. I genuinely enjoy being a part of extracurriculars because I believe they offer a great opportunity to learn valuable skills and meet new people. However, a big challenge that I faced, particularly in high school, was determining which ones to be a part of. I found it challenging to strike a balance between enjoyable extracurriculars and ones which I believed would look good to other people. Whenever I was debating whether I should join a new club, one of the first questions I would ask myself was, “How will this look on my resume?”
AEO status was something that I was very interested in pursuing during high school. Since Ivey appreciates well-rounded students, I felt it was important to show that I was committed to several extracurriculars, regardless of whether or not I truly enjoyed them. I was a part of a variety of clubs that I thought would look good on a resume, which led to me being very burnt out by the end of grade twelve. I felt overwhelmed by my extracurriculars to the point where it was hard to make a strong impact in all of them. While I am grateful for the experiences I gained from those extracurriculars, I learned that joining clubs should be motivated by your passions and not just by your resume.
Finding your passion is by no means an easy task. It requires a lot of trial and error, including self-reflection on what makes you happy. However, once you find some of your passions, it becomes significantly easier to get involved and make a positive impact through your extracurriculars. A common misconception is that business students must be confined to joining only business clubs, but this could not be further from the truth. Extracurriculars are designed to help you go out of your comfort zone and try new things, which makes any one of them valuable. Considering this, it only makes sense to join clubs you are truly passionate about because they will likely pique your interest and foster more personal development.
To those of you reading this, I challenge you to stay away from extracurriculars you are only joining for your resume. Once you start joining activities that you are actually interested in or want to learn more about, it will be easier to make a positive impact because you’ll want to. Balancing extracurriculars with academics can be hard, but it doesn’t have to feel like a chore if you pursue your passions and open yourself up to trying new things.