Participation in competition is not only beneficial toward college applications, but can lead to students having more opportunities to pursue what they truly enjoy.
Competition in activities, school-sanctioned or not, stems from particular interests placed in extracurricular activities, which are, of course, significant during one’s time at high school. Joan Batcheller, the College and Career Center Counselor at Campo, has offered her opinion on this from her ten-year experience: “It’s really about finding your passion as a good way to meet other classmates and upperclassmen. I think caring about more than just yourself can make a difference.”
While college is definitely a factor concerning extracurricular choices, many Campo students seem to be focusing on the fact that extracurriculars center around their personal hobbies and interests. Sophomore Daniel Siu has expressed his particular passion for Campo’s strong Debate program, which he has been a part of since freshman year. “Debate being appealing to colleges was an added benefit…I definitely want to stick with it through high school,” Siu said.
The rigor of competing in a school as academically and athletically strong as Campolindo has been expressed among student-athletes like Siu and senior Laurel Tringe, who is eager to continue competing in basketball and Academic Decathlon. When asked about the rigor of competition in general, Tringe responded, “I choose to compete to show my skills and the skills that my peers have. Competing means being a part of a team; I don’t really know what I do outside of extracurriculars for fun.”
The Campolindo community has also stressed the importance of sportsmanship and contributing to a “team”, which contests and competitions are able to provide. Ms. Batcheller agreed with this concept when she added, “extracurriculars give you an opportunity to compete alongside people, to do the musical, to do auto shop, or a club. These are all things that will teach you life skills.”
Siu’s experience with Debate while working with many upperclassmen emphasizes this, as he stated, “I get to learn more about current event topics, since with parliamentary debate the topic changes every round, and I’m able to get a general understanding of things going on around the world. Plus, you get to form bonds and friendships through competing.”
The College and Career Center has already provided students with a list of multiple strong competitions in which they can choose to compete in. These are contests in the areas of math, science, engineering, performing arts, and writing. Many of the contests have the potential to win high accreditation across the country and can be accessed through the “Extracurricular Activities” section of the College and Career 101 website. Missing out on these available opportunities to win awards, invest your talent and passion into an area of interest, and just putting yourself out there results in a lack of challenges for you as a person. Competing in rigorous competitions builds overall strength of character and a necessary edge needed for the rest of one’s life.
Debate, basketball, Academic Decathlon – just a few of the many opportunities offered for competing in one’s area of expertise and interest. As a California-based public high school ranked 27th in the state with a history of D1 athletes and ambitious students, Campo, in fact, encourages competing in order to boost passion and good sportsmanship, qualities needed later in life. Competition, therefore, can become a valuable tool when it comes to college resumes.
Pursuing one’s passion through competition can not only strengthen your college applications, but give you recognition in the district, state, and possibly the country. High school is the time to throw yourself into contests, to find something you enjoy doing, and meet new people while placing and learning new things.
