Thanks to Coronavirus, we’re all stuck at home right now, and one of the biggest questions we’re getting is this: What do I do about my extra-curricular activities – they’re all cancelled!
But there are ways you can spend your cooped-up time advancing the extra-curricular activities to which you’ve already devoted so much time. And it’s fine to use your newfound time to start something new! Here are a few suggestions:
Visual arts
- Produce more work! Create!
- Give lessons to your younger siblings or your friends’ younger siblings over Zoom or FaceTime
- Curate a photo album from the pictures on your phone. Tell a story.
- Create your own yearbook of how this school year has gone for you and your friends – before the crazy thing happened.
- Build a fashion portfolio.
Performing arts
- Learn a new piece of music.
- Try to sync up a rehearsal with a friend.
- Write your own new piece of music!
- Learn a new instrument! Watch YouTube videos to learn.
- Practice a scene from your favorite play or movie with a friend.
- Write a 2-person scene that you can rehearse with a friend.
- Record yourself singing a song from your favorite Broadway show, and share it with
Athletics
- Practice your sport! Every sport has a solo version.
- Create a new workout regimen for yourself, and then create one for your mom and dad.
- Make an instructional video for someone who has never played or watched your sport before.
- Compile some clips of the greatest moments in your sport!
Other interesting ideas
- Learn a new language.
- Tutor a friend in the language you’re both studying.
- Actually read the book you were supposed to read for English class.
- Do some research into your favorite historical or scientific topic. Then explain it to someone else who doesn’t understand or appreciate it as much as you do.
- Read the websites for the people running for Congress, Senate or Governor of your state. What issues do YOU care about, and where do they stand on them?
- Memorize a historic political speech. Write an essay describing the context, its purpose, who gave it and who listened? And what did it change?
- Learn how to cook a new dish. Teach your little brother!
- Teach your dog how to sit, stay, roll over. Make a video of your lessons!
- Take an online art class.
- Start keeping a journal. Write about what you’re doing to keep busy, how you’re feeling about being separated from friends, how your feelings about hanging out with your family have evolved.
- Watch a live feed of animals in the wild.
- Learn how to sew or needlepoint. Ask your grandma to help you!
- Describe why each of the extra-curricular activities you used to do is important to you, in just a short paragraph.
- Teach your parents how to use TikTok!
For the Class of 2021, who will apply to college THIS FALL, there are really 2 parts of the college application process we guarantee will stay the same:
- You’ll still have to build a balanced list of colleges – a few “reach,” a handful of “target,” and at least two schools where you are certain you will be admitted. That means their acceptance rate must be higher than 30%! Don’t take chances. And make sure you would truly feel good about attending. Here’s a link to our “How To Research a College Online” video.
- You’ll definitely have to write some essays. You’ll probably be asked to write something about an extra-curricular activity that has a lot of meaning to you, and you’ll probably have to write something about why you are interested in the academic subject you think you might want to major in. Why not get started on one of those now?
For more information on what could change and what will probably stay the same this admission cycle, here’s the article and webinar we gave last week.
Magellan counselor Kathy Kelleher gives you some final tips on staying productive during the isolation time:
Thank you for allowing us to be one of your many sources of information about college admissions. As you can imagine, things are moving very fast right now and we’re doing the best we can to keep you updated!