<p>I'm in 10th grade. I don't have a passion, which is an issue. Some kids have been dancing for 10+ years, winning every debate tournament they go to, etc. I have NOTHING. I have a few ECs that I like here and there, but nothing... that I absolutely love. I obviously want to impress colleges with SOMETHING, but I also really want to spend my time doing something that I would look forward doing, and often. I just don't know what that something is. I know it's not too late in life to find a passion, but is it too late for college apps?</p>
<p>Take out a big book of majors and cross out every major that doesn’t interest you. It’s very time-consuming, but in the end it’s worth it to impress colleges. </p>
<p>Or, you know, you could skip declaring a major and go undecided until you find out what you like to do.</p>
<p>uh my passions as a kid were competitive. i was passionate about them because there was winning involved. </p>
<p>some of my other passions had to do with “completing”. making something, spending time and getting a “finished” product (big puzzles, legos, drawing).</p>
<p>there is something called * flow * i think (in a lot of theories of happiness, well being, etc. it’s a pretty big concept). read the wikipedia page, have you felt it? that’s one thing that people often get from their passions i think, * flow *.</p>
<p>now my passions have to do with things which i think are big issues facing humanity (that’s why they’re important, and why I’m passionate, because they seem urgent, meaningful, the things that aren’t being paid as much attention to as they aught to be, etc.).</p>
<p>that’s my sense of passions, anyway, and my personal experience with them :).</p>
<p>It doesn’t necessary have to be school related. It could be skateboarding, biking, dirt bike, etc.
Passion could be a hobby. It could be a career. It could simply be your own thing.</p>
<p>The first thing you do when trying to find your passion is to partake in as many opportunities offered to you as possible. Every sing one. Why? You could love the theater but have no clue because you’ve never participated in a production. You could love journalism but you wouldn’t know that because you decided to shrug off that opportunity to write a student article in a paper. Do everything you possibly can!</p>
<p>I was like you, lost and dumbfounded when reading about “passion” and the stories many people have behind them. I wasn’t a dancer, I wasn’t a duct tape club aficionado, I was fairly regular until my sophomore year when I leaped into every opportunity offered to me.</p>
<p>Research opportunities around your city. I found an amazing cultural program that is going to take up 400+ hours of my time this year and will pay for me to go on a trip all the way from NY to Atlanta, meeting politicians and leaders along the east coast. </p>
<p>Just put yourself out there. Don’t join/participate because it isn’t your “thing.”</p>
<p>@Coste I’m trying to live by that advice now, but I wish I knew about it earlier! Almost graduating and finding new passions (or any, for that matter) can be rather depressing, especially when people still think of you as the person you were a couple years ago…</p>
<p>Bluedevil18:
You are not alone, I am like you too, except that I am a freshman. Some people are so passionate that their flame of passion scares me. I met this person that says she knew she wanted to be a doctor since she was five.
I sometimes doubt that whether those extremely competitive students really do those ECs because thy really enjoy them. I have been wondering that if one day (of course this is impossible) the competitive colleges declare that they don’t care about ECs anymore, would the majority of those students do so many ECs? I know a lot of Asian kids play piano (I am Asian too, but I don’t even know how to read the notes), are they all passionate about piano?
I know that I enjoy gardening and painting and drawing, but I can’t take art class in or out of school. Screw the high schools, we have to sacrifice passion related classes for harder classes to impress the colleges. Why can’t we have both? I have my whole high school schedule planned and I only have one spot for art class, which will fulfill the requirement. What if I want art class for three years?
We all have passions, but some people just do not reflect them in an obvious, burning way.
I am not extremely passionate about being a leader, unless my leader is incapable and needs help. But it seems like leadership is the most valuable trait in the eye of the competitive colleges.
I think the OP does have a passion, but it is not as impressive or strong as most CCers.</p>
<p>I honestly think passion should have absolutely no relationship with impressing college. It’s doing what you love, not what you try to love. I am frustrated is not wholly because I don’t have a passion to impress the colleges but rather because I see my friends do what they love and I am jealous, and I am stuck in a position where I can’t pursue my passion but have not discover my other passion either.
Sry for posting too much, but I am so desperate to speak of what I think.</p>
<p>First, I don’t think you should try to do things JUST for impressing colleges, but it is important to have something you care about. Here are my suggestions:</p>
<p>Try out for a play! It’s easy to get into and I can almost guarantee you’ll love it! I didn’t get involved in Theatre until 8th grade, now it’s one of my passions. I also recommend trying debate, there’s novice-levels for newcomers, I think you might like it, it’s scary at first but in my experience most people end up loving it.</p>
<p>Also, anyone, regardless of ability, can do community service. That will impress colleges and more importantly you’ll be a better person.</p>
<p>Snide remark of the day: in some cases, if you happen to be unfortunate, it won’t matter to colleges whether or not you have a passion because you’ll be denied either way. </p>
<p>All I can say is that after receiving disappointing admissions results for the second year in a row, I won’t be encouraging my own children (if I have any) to pursue the same things I did, because apparently admissions committees don’t care about them. If they happen to be interested in these things themselves, it’s a different story - but I certainly won’t go out of my way to give them incentives.</p>
<p>/endbitterness</p>
<p>But seriously, to the OP - just do whatever you like. It’s as simple as that. Try a lot of different things and see which ones interest you most.</p>
<p>Perhaps your passion is attempting to be admitted to a prestigious university. That conclusion naturally follows from the desire to find a passion to appeal to universities.</p>
<p>Now if you actually want a real passion, remember that it can be anything. I’m passionate about mathematical reform (because the way math is taught sucks, frankly) and mathematics itself, in its purest, most delightful state.</p>
<p>Try as many things as possible. Just sign up for hatever you can find, even if it’s not something you think you’ll like, and don’t let yourself quit for at least a month</p>
<p>@ fln1049: I don’t know if your post was referring to me or to the OP, but in case it was me, I can assure you that I wasn’t just doing things to look good on paper. If that was really my motive, I would have been bored and fed up a very long time ago. Although I don’t regret pursuing what I did, I now recognize that what I’m interested in apparently holds very little value for college admissions. If my future kids are interested too, great! If they aren’t, I won’t go specifically out of my way to try to get them to be interested. That’s what I meant.</p>