From Staff Writer to Copy Editor to News Editor to finally Editor-in-Chief, Parker’s publications are some of the few institutions in which past participation is vital to earning a leadership position. Leadership roles in high school don’t just require passion but also the experience and acquired knowledge that is often developed throughout the first years of involvement. Yet, many underclassmen attempt to bypass this route by creating empty leadership roles for themselves that require no real effort or background. Because of this pattern, the quality of work is diminishing across the board in Parker’s extracurriculars. Many students start organizations to create instantaneous leadership positions that often fizzle out once they graduate, perpetuating a toxic cycle where longstanding student organizations cannot be established.
Bypassing the necessary prior experience to become a club leader causes many organizations to lack tangible impact and quality leadership, a skill that comes from the act of working up the ladder of an organization and observing how it is run. The lack of prior experience and the lack of discipline surrounding a new club cause it to inevitably fail.
The “Clubs and Activities” section of Parker’s website serves as a graveyard for these discontinued clubs. 3D Printing Club, Astrophysics Club, Comedy Club, Community Research Club, and Medicine Club are all within the first eight clubs listed on the page, and they have all died out. The epidemic of superfluous clubs isn’t in our heads: it’s right in front of us.
It doesn’t make sense, though, that the ambitious nature of Parker students would allow these clubs to die so easily and quickly. However, it actually does make sense. The heightened ambition of students causes them to look past Parker as a whole and only look towards their future: college. These leadership roles can be one of the many activities listed in a college application, and once students have gotten into college, it makes sense that the club they created to get into college would die out. “Founder” has more of a ring to it than just “head.” To put it simply, the college admissions culture at Parker is causing students to be too focused on gaining leadership roles rather than tangible, quality experience as a club member.
Perhaps another reason for this aimless club epidemic is that Parker doesn’t have class rank, APs, or weighted GPAs. Without them, students feel the need to show off their talent in the form of extracurricular involvement. Having a ton of booths at the involvement fair may feel just as impressive as earning an A in an advanced math class––except people can physically see your impact, unlike an unweighted GPA which would look the same no matter the class taken. Parker’s forced academic equality has caused an extremely competitive out-of-classroom environment.
However, it’s not just new clubs that are dying out. Tampon Tuesday and Students Affirming Gender Equality were both longstanding clubs that had visible impacts such as bakesales and MXs, respectively, yet both of them died out after the heads failed to elect members to take their spots.
This culture has caused many clubs to not be able to create a tangible result, and it doesn’t allow clubs to establish themselves as an entity in Parker’s robust Upper School. Student leaders must consider the impact of their organizations on the school and student body—not only the impact of starting their organizations on their chances of getting into college. The extracurricular leadership culture encourages selfish thinking because students are focused on attaining the role, but not sustaining it.
Some clubs and organizations have stayed afloat despite all of this. Most affinity groups have stayed strong and effective, perhaps because of the tight-knit community they foster, and clubs like Model UN, FWPMUN, and FTC Robotics are so solidified that Parker would feel incomplete without them. Both FWPMUN and FTC Robotics have a multi-tier approach when it comes to positions. In FWPMUN, a student can go from an Assistant Chair, to a Head Chair, to a Secretariat member, to finally becoming Secretary General or Director General. Clubs where students can gain non-leadership positions early on entice them to stay in the club and gain the necessary experience to one day become a leader as an upperclassman.
Students must shift their attitude towards extracurriculars away from college admissions and towards creating a tangible impact on the community. Perhaps clubs with various positions are the key, or maybe there should just be a stricter club approval process. Whatever it may be, just remember to pursue what you enjoy because people can tell when it’s just for show.
