<p>“Northstarmom: I hope kids here don’t take that statement as justification to do a bunch of activities that they have no interest in for a few years and then stopping halfway and trying some more things that they know they don’t like and claiming that their passion is trying new things.”</p>
<p>In terms of affecting the course of their lives, at least such behavior is likely to beneficial because it would help them figure out what kinds of things they do like and have a talent for.</p>
<p>Of course, diving into ECs only to impress colleges wouldn’t be likely to impress colleges because there really are big differences between people whose passion is immersing themselves in different activities and people who create a laundry list only to impress colleges. It’s not hard to identify which category a particular student falls into.</p>