During the school year, Parker students are constantly busy with tests, papers, projects, homework, and–on top of all of that–out-of-school activities. It becomes hard to juggle school work and explore different interests. But eventually the school year wraps up, the weather gets warmer, and students receive a 12 week break, free to do whatever they please.  What do Parker summers look like?  

Too many students design their summers according to what they imagine will appeal to colleges, and this isn’t right.  The college application process shouldn’t consume high school students’ day-to-day lives, especially during the summertime.  

On social media websites this summer many students posted photos and shared stories about their summers. Whether it was travelling, volunteer service, camps, or other programs, there were seemingly endless ways to spend summer break.

Some Parker students took classes at colleges, others worked jobs and internships, and still others participated in teen travel programs, to name a few.

But there’s a growing trend that has occurred among students all over the country, particularly those nearing their college application process–to attend pre-college or travel-abroad summer programs as a way to enhance the college application.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni discussed the excessive usage of volunteer service used in college admission essays in a DATE op-ed piece titled “To Get to Harvard, Go to Haiti?” In the piece he shares the story of David Hernandez, a 17-year-old from a private Catholic school in Flint, Michigan.

Hernandez criticized classmates who went on service trips to impoverished or extremely rural areas only to come home, after as short as a week, and write an essay on their experience for a college application.

He observed that most of the teens on these trips came from affluent backgrounds, as they were the only ones who could afford such trips, and claimed they did not care to notice the issue of poverty until an exotic trip came along their way.

Some of Hernandez’s claims were a bit harsh on his classmates and those participating in these programs, but even so, he shined a light on a larger issue. Most of Hernandez’s peers only went on these service trips because they wanted something for their college resumés–and not because they really cared.

College admissions have in recent years become increasingly more selective. Now, students all over the country feel compelled to fill their free time with activities that makes their application stick out from the crowd. This causes teens to participate in programs and activities even when they have no real passion for the thing they are doing.

That, of course, is not to say all of the students attending these service trips, or other programs, do not care about the work they are doing.  Some no doubt care.

College crossed my mind nearly every day over this past school year, and over the summer the feeling didn’t change. Instead of breaking free from that particular stress, I felt I was dragged back in.

Whether it was scrolling through social media or just talking with peers, I found myself constantly comparing my summer experiences and accomplishments to everyone else’s.

Rather than fully enjoying my summer, I felt there was always something more productive I could have been doing.

Am I feeling the same feelings as the people Bruni and Hernandez talked about? The answer is largely yes. This is a commonly shared feeling among many high school students due to ever growing pressure caused by the college application process.

At Parker, students receive a tremendous amount of support from parents, college counselling, and teachers while going through the college process. Yet students still experience pressure to do more and to stand out more.

Students shouldn’t feel obligated to pursue something they have no interest in, even if it may stand out on a resumé. Instead, they should enjoy the things they have a passion for.