It’s the end of the first quarter, and time is ticking away. Each teacher reminds you every period of each and every deadline. You spend all of your lunches leading up to the final day completing overdue assignments, as well as tracking down teachers for those picky extra credit opportunities. You begin to realize how your procrastination has quickly hazed over every due date as you stare blankly at your computer screen. For many students, the hassle of only one quarter is enough to send them into mental overdrive. So how will we ever be able to handle the antagonizing stress that is college preparation?

Being a teenager in this day and age comes with a lot of baggage: Social life, relationships, athletics, clubs, family, and presumably the most demanding of all, school. These aspects of adolescence are the causes for joy and excitement in our everyday lives, yet they can also be the reason why it’s so incredibly hard to get out of bed in the morning. One of the best ways to effectively manage all of these things is through dedication and balance. For most, dedication isn’t necessarily the hard part – being driven and able to persevere is a quality many HHS students share. Being balanced, however, is simply impossible when there are college preparation expectations needing to be met looming drearily over your head 24/7.

There are many ways in which students can achieve balance and still put forth their best effort to be prepared for college. You can explore your county for academic showcases, community service, or scholarship opportunities. You can join clubs, participate in athletics, and take advantage of all the resources our school has to offer the student body. But first, how do we know what colleges are looking for? What kinds of things should we be doing to properly build our resumes?

The first step to building the perfect college resume is developing a list of extra-curricular activities. Although these may seem like unneeded hobbies or distractions from schoolwork, many colleges look for students with a full calendar. This displays dedication, work ethic, and commitment. “It makes the student look more well-rounded, so when comparing Student A to Student B, it really just sells them as to why the college should admit them.” Says HHS guidance counselor Erica Southworth. Here at Huntingtown High, there are more than one-hundred engaging and exiting clubs to choose from. Not only does your participation look good on paper, but it also surrounds you with groups of students with the same interests as you. Being involved is the best way to spend your high school career, and before you know it, you could be excelling in every component of your life. Just take it again from Mrs. Southworth, who when asked how extra-curriculars can benefit students, responded with, “You can really feel connected to the school, and that is very important for students. It also prepares you in terms of life, as far as learning to balance your schedule.” So, as you can see, there is a place for everyone here at Huntingtown High School, and therefore taking advantage of the diverse and welcoming community we have here will benefit you greatly.

The second step to creating an exceptional resume is to seek out academic/athletic scholarships or community service opportunities. As most of you know, many colleges specifically look for students with a higher-than-average amount of community service hours. This is because these types of activities allow students to showcase their best abilities such as commitment, hard work, and the ability to make a difference.

But the thing that most of you have probably scoured this article for is finally here: According to Online SAT / ACT Prep Blog by PrepScholar, a common misconception is that there is a magic number of community service hours needed to make a good impression on college admission officers. However, anything between 50 and 200 hours will do the trick. “They want to know what the requirements are through the school, and then how many hours a student exceeded that.” says Mrs. Southworth. Colleges would rather invest in a student who is active and involved because they want to be, rather than someone who has every box checked off for a perfect applicant but would rather sit at home all day watching Netflix (don’t get me wrong, we all love a good show). But unfortunately, colleges don’t want your opinions about why your favorite T.V show couple didn’t end up together. Instead, community service is meant to promote your talents as a good citizen and student leader.

You’re probably thinking all of this sounds good, right? Nothing unexpected? So maybe you’ve already heard this all before – but where do you begin to find all of these different opportunities to get involved? Well, you can start by talking to Mrs. Allen, Huntingtown’s guidance secretary. “She has all of our paperwork that could qualify to give the student service-learning hours.” says Mrs. Southworth. From there, you can also access the Huntington High School blog at Huntingtown High Guidance – Blog (weebly.com), where scholarship and community service opportunities are constantly being updated for students to use as they please. Once again, taking advantage of these types of opportunities shows great initiative and can very well be the deciding factor on acceptance into a certain school. There are many resources given out to students at HHS for a reason – they are there to inspire students and get them on the path to prepare themselves the best they can for their futures.

Finally, the last step and possibly the most important – tying it all together. Between your grades, athletics/clubs, scholarships, and community service, you can really be the full package! It is important to remember, however, that each applicant is different and if presented accordingly, will have many different things to offer to the table. As well all know, the entire process can be messy and stressful, but with enough devotion and hark work, it can all be worth it. “Being involved can make a student’s application more competitive and give them more experience within the community, which is exactly what colleges are looking for.” Mrs. Southworth says. This all goes to show how getting prepared for college doesn’t have to be as scary and demanding as it seems. In the end, becoming an active member of your school and community will provide you with the assets needed to set your resume apart from other students. So, knowing what you now know about HHS student resources and the importance of getting involved, breathing can come easy to you once again. Say goodbye to that antagonizing stress because you’ve got this now. Good luck hurricanes!