To give you an idea of how little effort it can take to find opportunities for high school students interested in law, I simply googled summer camps for high school students interested in law. Guess what? Tons of links.
https://www.nslcleaders.org/youth-leadership-programs/law-advocacy/
https://www.envisionexperience.com/explore-our-programs/intensive-law-and-trial
http://www.summer.ucla.edu/institutes/MockTrial
https://ce.uci.edu/areas/legal/hslaw/
You get the idea. Find your interests, research, and actively pursue.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I actually did research and looked at all the links you gave- they were all ridiculously expensive, nothing my parents are willing to pay for. This website, https://www.summerdiscovery.com/penn-law, outlines the cost of plenty of great opportunities for prospective law students in high school- only if they’re filthy rich, of course. Honestly, I like the idea of going to a summer camp for any of my interests, but my family definitely cannot afford camps ranging from $2,000-$8,000.
My mother actually works at a law firm @lookingforward and said that they unfortunately only hire/provide internships for people who are currently enrolled in law school.
Then you think about other firms or non-profits or causes or local govt. You may be young for some of it, but the idea is to find ways,plan the next 23 months.
You just need to expand your thinking. Or narrow the list to colleges not looking for a level of empowerment. Sorry that sounds harsh, but these competitive colleges look for the can-do attitude. Mock Trial is a good idea or Model UN. Just as stem kids can do math-sci activities. And then expand.
@lookingforward Honestly, I do have a “can-do” attitude. I am just having trouble actually finding programs that I can join. That’s the whole purpose of me making this thread- because I can’t figure out how to pursue my interests, or at least can’t find opportunities for my interests.
Seriously – go read the book I recommended. Finding a program is NOT what will do you the most good.
@katnissjul A lot academic camps offer scholarships to students who cannot afford them. (I clicked on a couple of those links and saw scholarship links. I didn’t read them, but they were there.) Fwiw, those programs were not my point. There were pages of links for my google search. I just did another google search for free programs and found this one if you are Hispanic http://hnbfonline.com/about/faq/ (you can search for other free programs)
A local or regional high school Mock Trial team should not be expensive. (That would take a phone call to your state’s coordinator to find out about how to get involved.)
But you are missing the point in general. I wasn’t suggesting you should attend camps or join Mock Trial. I am suggesting that there are ways to get involved in your area of interests outside of your house. Law, crime scene investigation, etc do have youth-oriented options.
You could approach your library about promoting literacy amg teens by starting a crime-themed book club, arranging for local crime scene investigators and legal professionals to come in and talk about their careers and then having a murder-mystery party. (Our library loves to have teens want to get involved and connect with the larger community. )
Volunteering locally with a political candidates office is free. Attending open public policy meetings is free. Public policy events, environmental issues, etc…are there ways to get involved?
It doesn’t have to cost any $$. But it does take you finding what you want to get involved in, and then you do. I wouldn’t do anything for college application purposes. Nothing, not any activity, is going to gain you admission to a college bc it isn’t about the activity. It is about you and who you are.
Keep in mind that are plenty of colleges that you can apply to that do not care about anything at all other than your grades and test scores, but those are not the schools you mentioned.
Fwiw, you could get a job. A job will help you develop skills, too.
OP, you said that you have talents in writing, but have not really done much with it yet. I think this is one possible issue. When you do not allocate enough thinking, efforts, and commitment to a talent that you identify, your talent is less likely to be observable for outsiders. At the same time, you miss out some opportunities to challenge yourself to the possible full extent about that talent you have. Is not that some kind of waste? I hope that I will be able to read your books and/or other published writings in the future.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I have been looking into everything you have mentioned and have been more interested in the politics-oriented things you have mentioned. Do you have any more suggestions regarding political science opportunities instead of law? I’ve been doing a lot of research and I have found a few things I’m interested in, but not many things in my location. I emailed my guidance counselor and asked if she had any success in the past with kids trying to find these opportunities. Though I don’t expect much of a response because guidance counselors in my school aren’t really used to kids asking these kinds of questions.
There is an opportunity around me that is free- the New Jersey Governors School. Unfortunately, it’s for students interested in STEM subjects. I guess I enjoy biology and chemistry, but I’m not crazy about STEM in general. I know someone who is a student at Duke that says that I should do the program regardless if I am going to do something STEM related, because colleges really like the prestige of this program. Would it be wrong to do it even though I don’t intend on ever going into a STEM related career? (Again- I do enjoy biology and chemistry, so I think I would actually enjoy the program, regardless if I don’t intend on ever going into a STEM major).
@intparent I’ll check out the book
You could start looking here. http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/voting-information-local-officials.html Find your local information and make contacts. Find local representatives and ask how to become involved.
I think the NJGS is highly competitive.
" a comprehensive summer residential enrichment program of study in engineering and technology for high school juniors who are entering their senior year who possess outstanding skills and display unusual abilities and interests in these fields. Its goal is to introduce scholars to college-level topics across engineering disciplines using both coursework and hands-on experience while researching challenging and open-ended problems with peers who share their love for engineering and technology. " Took me 5 sec to find that.
What you need is now. Go volunteer for an org that helps people, a meal site, a community organization, the library, a senior center. If you’re in NJ, plenty of kids are part of programs where they give input to the school district, local govt on teen issues, teen court, or volunteer with immigrants, teens, etc. (Kids in NJ who want top colleges are pretty active, they find ways.)
Right now, you seem to be looking for an “it” idea, one that sounds right and meets your so called passions. Why not just start with something? Get rolling, while you look for more perfect. Otherwise, it’s just talk. And meanwhile, time is passing.
@katnissjul, the kids who have a strong passion for something typically develop things on their own, or seek out their own version of activities.
A classmate of my daughter’s, “Chris”, who wanted to pursue civil law, contacted the local public government sites and asked to volunteer. She was turned down a lot but, she was very persistent, and eventually got into the office of a state representative. At first she was a “gopher”, but then she became an aide to one of the supporting staff; she learned a lot and used that to fuel her passion. She was surprised where she got in, but did well.
No one says it’s going to be easy. You have to LIKE what you are doing, and you really can’t do it just because you want to get into a university. Chris continued working for her state rep even after going away to school; remember that this was “unpaid”, but it was something she felt was important for her.
This is what colleges want; a need that you have that is strong and it shines through in an application.
(FWIW: another one of my daughter’s classmates got into Columbia. She had near perfect scores on the SAT; and perfect grades, but she was also a phenomenal swimmer; so, in that year, Columbia wanted scholar athletes. The hook was that she was a recruited athlete.)
@lookingforward The Governor’s School is highly competitive, but I think I can get in considering my grades and course load. My school sends a few kids to the governor’s school every year(including kids with lower grades than me) so if I wanted to go it would definitely be possible. I was just wondering if going to the Governor’s school would be a bad decision considering I don’t want to be a stem major.
I honestly have been researching a lot and I have been finding things. I have been looking into internships with state senators, founding a model UN club for my school, and the NSLC political science and public policy summer program. I’m really interested in the idea of founding a Model UN club for my school, but I have a feeling that not many kids are going to join(we have a small school). I’ll have to see how that will work out. I shot my guidance counselor and my Gifted and Talented teacher(who is the one who organizes the kids interested in Governor’s School) if they have heard of any programs that kids have had success with in the past.
Seriously considering NJGS though- I enjoy biology and chemistry, but as everyone has told me, I don’t want to make it look like I just went to have something cool to put on my college application considering I won’t be a STEM major.
It’s not uncommon to see a humanities kid did a governor’s academy. Adcoms know they can be rigorous.
But again, that’s a school centered thing. And, if you apply to college for humanities, they will still want to see you are involved in some things outside the box, that represent your own drives, not just what’s offered to you, sme as everyone else.
In general, founding a club depends on how successful you can make it. Research MUN. It’s good. You’ll need a faculty advisor or mentor, willing to put in the time, and some competitions require the club be in existence some time period or other things.
Does your school have a debate team? NSLC isn’t quite the same. You’re not really engaged in some effort. It’s not collaborative as MUN or debate can be.
I think the main thing some of us want you to realize is to get active, not just in school. Good you’re thinking and reaching out.
@lookingforward Unfortunately, my school does not have a debate team. Someone tried to found a club called “Young Democrats” last year and it didn’t work out well(could be because it was politically targeted to democrats). Though other clubs have recently had success, like the World Language and Culture club this year. I’m not sure how successful a Model UN club would be, but I’m pretty sure our DECA club was just founded a couple of years ago and took off well(participates in state conferences, kids have made it to national competitions, etc). I most likely would not have a problem finding an advisor(though I would probably be stuck doing most of the work), the issue would definitely be finding enough kids to join. A part of me thinks that founding a debate team for my school may be more successful than a model UN club, just because more people in my school have heard of debate over model UN. Definitely looking in to both, though.
@“aunt bea”
Also just sent an email to my state senator asking about any internships or volunteer opportunities. Not sure to look beyond there if he does not have anything in mind. Are local representatives one to contact about this too?
Are you in DECA? Not bad. Realize that some clubs are talky, while others are about the effort, growing the skills, and the teamwork. Any academic competition team at your school?
Yes, local reps. Sometimes, the smaller offices need help. Even the proverbial xeroxing puts you in the environment and if you’re good, you might get to do more, observe more. You can posit this as you’re wiling to do minor tasks, for the opportunity to observe and help. They may not have a pre-set idea in mind, scratch their heads. So you suggest something, answering phones, copying, whatever.
Also, with these things, it’s not about a major time commitment (esp as a soph.)
I am not one who says you should avoid doing things for college apps. You don’t want to be fake, but we’re talking about accumulating some experiences and they don’t all have to be just “things” that mega interest you. Some are about the experience- and the experience of looking for opps, the thinking. Adcoms don’t say, oh, she did this to look good. They usually just react to what you did do. And you can still enjoy.
Try listening to this podcast: http://collegepreppodcast.com/?powerpress_pinw=430-podcast
This is what the Cal Newport book recommended talks about.
This sounds forced. I don’t think we’re getting through to you.
If we have to tell you what, how and where to seek your opportunities, then it is not a true passion. It’s not a thing where we “hand-hold” you.
We shouldn’t have to tell you where to go and what to do. A passionate person does things on their own.
During high school, my three kids sought their own activities.
For example: My middle daughter likes animals; one day she asked me if my HS friend still had a veterinary practice. I told her yes. My daughter, walked (a long distance), without our knowledge, to my friend’s practice, told the staff that their vet and I went to school together, and volunteered and asked to walk the dogs. They were initially hesitant, but took down all of her information. She went back, every day after school, hoping they would accept her to walk the dogs. They eventually did allow her to walk the dogs. Then, later, they started her cleaning the lab, sterilizing equipment, grooming the animals. Later, while taking a biotech class which required a “lab” type experience, the vet agreed to supervise her the experience. My dd pre-filled injections, learned disinfection and sterilization procedures, general precautions, infectious waste procedures, etc. By the time she applied for lab jobs in college, she was always employable.
That is a passion for something.
{Sending an email will get you a nice “thank you” notice. They will know that you are trying to formulate an EC.}
Chris showed up at the offices of her reps. It’s harder to say “no” to your face. She didn’t ask anyone for ideas of suggestions. Her Mom told us later that they were surprised that Chris was spending so much time looking for a volunteer opportunity.
@“aunt bea” It’s not forced. I genuinely enjoy government and politics related activities and the idea of shadowing or interning with a local representative or government official is appealing and interesting to me. Who knows, maybe it’ll happen and I won’t like it. In that case, I’ll stop. I don’t want to be wasting time doing things I don’t enjoy. That’s why I’m steering clear of activities and programs related to law right now, because I had a self revelation that I just didn’t think I would enjoy it. I am simply searching for suggestions at this point, because I have realized what interests me and now I want to start getting things going. I have been doing research on my own, but sometimes as a 15 year old you can only do so much and want to ask others how they got where they got. It’s also difficult seeing it as neither of my parents excelled as much at school as I did, so they are not farmiliar with opporitunities, and my school doesn’t really assist with these processes either, so I’m basically on my own here. I am not asking anyone to sit and fill out my applications for me, simply asking for suggestions on what other people did and not just trying to do the same thing as them, but using other peoples experiences to assist mine. If you look at some of my previous replies, you can see that I have thought of some things and just want to get the wheels spinning. I have to start from somewhere. I have to start by trying out new things and simply seeing how much I like them. No one starts out being passionate in something- I have to figure out what I enjoy first before I can develop a passion for it. And the only way for me to do that is by trying an array of different things.
@“aunt bea” sums up my thoughts.