Saturday, February 25, 2012

Guest Post from Emily E.

Today I have Emily E. from The Wide World of E as my guest poster. I love that she is just a year older than me and can inform me of all the important things I may need to know when applying or visiting colleges and today her post applies to my busy life as well! Also, while on my trip my Chi hair straightener broke and I need to replace it and I was wondering if y'all knew of anything better to replace it with. Also I have heard rumors that you can take it to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and tell them it is broken that they will give you a new one for free no questions asked. If any of y'all know anything about that or have any suggestions PLEASE comment! Now back to the lovely Emily and her fabulous post!
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Hey everyone! My name is Emily from The Wide World of E and I'm guest blogging for dWa today. 
I'm so excited that she asked me to blog again! This time, I'll be talking about getting involved in your school community. 

I moved from Rhode Island my freshman year of high school, so needless to say, I was even more lost than the average freshman. Everyone is always told that in order to "find yourself" in high school, you need to get involved. However, in some schools, especially those that are bigger, there are so many options on what to get involved in that it can be challenging to know what to sign up for. Then, there are cases where nothing really sparks your interest. Here's some steps on how to get involved, whether you are in middle school, high school, or college!

1. Think about YOU!
What are your interests? If you could do one thing for an entire year and not worry about anything else, what would you do? Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? When I thought about my passions, a few things came to mind: sailing, empowering people, self improvement, leadership, school spirit, and community service. Yes, you can have more than one! This can be hard to think about in your head. My suggestion is write it down! List everything! List moments that made you the happiest, times you felt motivated, what motivated you, who you admire and why, you get the idea. 

2. Do some research.
Now you have your list. You know where your talents and passions lie, so now, you need to start searching. Look for different clubs, sports, programs, etc. that your school offers that correspond to the things on your list. For me, I found the Varsity Sailing Team, Student Leadership, National Honor Society, and a summer job as a Sailing Instructor. This covered some things on my list, but not everything. This may happen to you, too, whether it be due to a lack of organizations your school offers, your interests, etc. Don't worry! This can be a good thing! I wanted to do a service club for Operation Smile, but our whole county, let alone school, did not offer it. So I started a club. You can do this, too! There are many schools that won't allow students to start clubs, so if this is your circumstance, just start the club and meet at a home, library, or other local place. That way, you can still pursue your passion! 

3. Throw yourself into it!
Okay, not literally. What I mean is, get super involved! Don't ever just sign up for something because you think it will look good on a resume. Trust me, the reader can see it. Get involved because you truly have a desire for it. Take on some responsibilities, try for leadership positions, spread your passion with others. Sometimes, you can use one passion in multiple areas. For example, I used my passion for Operation Smile in my other activities. I was the President of my yacht club's juniors (people under 18). We run a summer long fundraiser for an organization, so I chose Op Smile as ours last summer. As a sailing instructor, I motivated my students to get involved in our project so that they could learn about Op Smile. In school, we ran a TOMS Style Your Sole night with proceeds going to Op Smile. Do you see what I mean? You need to spread your passion wherever you go in whatever you do. Bottom line: whatever you do, just do it well. 

4. Empower others to do the same.
This one is really important; more important than most people realize. To truly have a passion for something means wanting to share it with others. That person does not have to be a soccer player like you, but maybe through your efforts with doing a soccer ball drive for kids in Argentina, coaching a recreational team, and being the leader of your school's athletic club, they saw their potential to do similar things with their passion for playing the cello. Encourage them to pursue these dreams. You could even offer to help them get started. 

5. Keep it in perspective and get organized.
None of us can do 36 hours of work in a 24 hour day. That is impossible. Don't ever take on more than you can handle because your job or your schoolwork comes first. You can, though, do more than you think. I'm told at least once a week that I spread myself too thin. The thing is, I don't. At all. I always answer this the same way, "I really don't. I'm just really good friends with my planner." Honestly, that is the key to EVERYTHING! If you can schedule and stay on your schedule, then trust me, you can do anything. The more organized you are, the better! There are so many ways to get organized and everyone has their own preferences. My advice is, figure out what works for you. When are you the most productive? Why? How can you do that every single day? Once you figure that out, all you have to do is do it. 

I hope these tips help! If you need any suggestions for how to get involved or need ideas on projects, don't hesitate to email me at thewideworldofe@gmail.com!

Thank you so much again to dWa for letting me guest blog! 

Have a great day,
 

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