The greater Bloomfield community is home to a plethora of opportunities for high school students. It can definitely be overwhelming to consider all of the options available, but getting involved in something you love is what matters most. 

   It is easy to pick and choose what to get involved with based on external factors, like what you think a college may want to see or what your friends are planning to do, but what is most important is choosing activities that allow you to dive deeper into your passions and interests. Internal factors, like your passions, interests, and hobbies, are the key determining factors of choosing what to get involved in. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to get into a university or path to take in order to achieve your goals (whatever they may be), so the most crucial attitude to adopt is that of enjoyment.

   If there is one thing that high school is about, it is whole-heartedly enjoying everything you do inside and outside of school and taking on roles because you genuinely want to. 

   While I most definitely have not had the “traditional” high school experience (weekends spent studying, nights filled with homework, and afternoons spent running around to all of my activities), I can definitely say that choosing to be a part of organizations filled with people I look forward to seeing and activities that I look forward to doing have made my long days worth it. Each year, I look forward to seeing the friends that I have made in the activities I do, cheering them on as they make progress within the activity itself and their personal lives.

   As activities are beginning to meet, you may feel tempted to join every extracurricular out there because you are unsure of what you may want to do. To that, I say try everything. Learn about every organization and opportunity that is available to you, but pare down your list if life gets too busy. For me, it feels better and more rewarding to do a few things really well than to attempt to do everything. I am only one person, and you are only one person, so it is not realistic to do the job of two, or five, or 15 people. 

   While I may experience stress and at times get overwhelmed, I can happily say that the things keeping me grounded are the experiences I have while getting involved in extracurriculars that I truly love. Having the space and time to complete a passion because I want to do it has made my high school experience vehemently more enjoyable.

   I am not able to tell you a perfect combination of activities to join and I most definitely cannot tell you what activities will serve as your time of peace and enjoyment. But what I can tell you is that there are countless benefits that come along with finding your people and your places. 

   Remember, the world lies at your fingertips: what will you choose to do with it?