<p>I've been doing color guard (part of the marching band, we do shows/competitions, rifles/flags/etc) and was guard captain last year and will be next year. However, I don't enjoy it very much and it's very time consuming and would make my life rather complicated this coming fall. I already have many other EC commitments - karate for six years (black belt testing that will potentially conflict with color guard), editor in chief for the school newspaper, president/founder and VP of GSA and human rights respectively, blah blah blah. </p>
<p>I'm not sure how impressive it would be to keep doing color guard for another year, or to drop it. I do have a guard captain title again this year, and I feel a duty to continue since I've gotten this far, but how bad will it look if i do drop it? Is it worth it to keep going if i don't enjoy it and is time consuming?</p>
<p>Sounds to me like you have plenty of other stuff going on, and no good reason to continue in an activity that you aren't really enjoying. I don't think it will be a factor in admissions. (Even if it could be, adding up all the hours you'd put in, do you want to give up that much of your life for the <em>possibility</em> that it might somehow improve your chances at getting into X college?) Admissions people are looking for an active student who contributes to his/her community, and they like to see leadership, and you have all that. In the unlikely event someone asks you why you quit color guard, you can say, "I wanted to be able to put more time into ...," and be prepared to talk about some of your other activities and how great and meaningful they were.</p>
<p>Remember, this year is part of your life, not just preparation for your future. Enjoy it!</p>
<p>Never stick with a hated EC in order to impress colleges. Colleges know that h.s. is a time of exploration. It's one of the main times in life in which you learn about things that you enjoy and don't enjoy. Consequently, if you don't enjoy something, move on. As long as you aren't moving on to being a couch potato, it's fine to drop an EC that you dislike. It's even OK to write an essay about how being in color guard taught you more about yourself and what kinds of things you most enjoy doing.</p>