<p>Hey. I'm not a very social person in my school, and I have no leadership positions atm. I feel like I should become more social and grab some leadership roles, but I don't really know how... I'm not "popular" and I don't feel like I'd be elected by other students. How can I get elected/get more friends/be more social? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>What year are you in?</p>
<p>You should start something that you’re interested in. Like a literary magazine or something… maybe a club to raise money.</p>
<p>Student government (as I’m sure you know) is more a popularity contest then anything. Same with anything student elected.</p>
<p>@rayna3: this is what really sucks about high school >_> they don’t elect people with brains or good skills, they elect popular, funny people (which is like, the exact opposite of what I am).</p>
<p>I’m in 9th grade. I’m starting a robotics club in the fall (when 10th grade starts). Science, math, programming, etc. all interest me. We already have a math club at school (which I may join later on).</p>
<p>Ahh I know what you mean -.- I tried for the honor council, and didn’t get in… (I go to a private school so everyone already knew everyone, and I was the newbie >.<)</p>
<p>I’m in 9th grade too!!!
That’s a good idea! You should join the math club, you’ll meet new people!</p>
<p>You should find an environment that you’re able to be yourself in, and try to widen that environment. I learned that I’m much more friendly and loud outside then in school… that’s how I made friends (by hanging with them outside). And then when I see them inside, I’m still friendly (like if we were outside). It may just be a me thing though :/</p>
<p>If you’re in 9th grade it’s ok to not have leadership positions yet…you have to pay your dues and work your way up the ladder. I would join the math club next year so you can run for a leadership position for your junior year. Most clubs like that will elect the best person, not just the most popular. You might want to look into getting involved in your school’s science olympiad team as well. </p>
<p>Another route you might want to take (if these interest you) is activities where the leaders are chosen by the advisers. At our school, these are things like newspaper, yearbook, lit mag, and many of the positions for NHS. </p>
<p>There are a lot of things other than student gov’t that you can get involved in and display leadership. Just do what you like to do and the rest will follow.</p>
<p>@NulliSecundus: Thanks. I’m on the Science Olympiad team and the chess team… I’m also part of a community service club. At my school, the advisers don’t choose the leaders (as far as I know). I would have joined the math club (and many others) a long time ago, but like every club at my school is on a Tuesday or Thursday (which is why I’m making the robotics club meet on Wednesdays), so I’m already booked. I do some stuff outside of school as well, but nothing that shows that I’m a leader.</p>
<p>Student Gov’t IS a popularity contest whereas something like Math Club or Math Team will not be. Although it is not a bad thing to learn to become more sociable on the whole… Also I don’t know anyone who had a leadership position in freshman year…</p>
<p>You’re still a freshman, this is good. You can start socializing, making new friends, and finding new interests. All of which can lead you to a great leadership position.</p>
<p>I agree with Nulli, If you gain support from yearbook staff and other top organizations at your school, that should help a lot.</p>
<p>Bumping this because I still need advice.</p>
<p>I feel like if I just started to socialize a lot more I could be on my way to becoming a good leader, but for some reason this is really difficult for me. If I put as much energy into socializing as I do into studying, I’d have a lot more friends (but at the same time, I feel like it’s hard to stay 100% focused in school and at the same time socialize and become a leader). Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Don’t concentrate on socializing so much that you become an annoying weirdo. Just talk to anyone who wants to talk to you. Or the other way around. Talk to ppl who have stuff in common with you. Be yourself.
And I don’t think it’s entirely a popularity contest. I know this new girl–who isn’t very popular–who ran for art director for NHS, and she had few experiences relating to art compared with the other candidates. What set her aside though was she confidently gave her speech, and her speech had a lot of substance. It wasn’t just one of those “oh i’ll do this” and “oh i have experience”. Basically, she won because she had charisma. </p>
<p>Don’t focus too much on this right now; you’re still a freshman. Also, I know this senior who posted a note on fb to her underclassman friends on how she got into Princeton, Harvard, and Yale. Besides talking about luck, what she said about leadership positions were pretty logical and true. She said that colleges probably don’t care too much about school leadership (and she proved this 'cause she only had 1 leadership position). She reasons that colleges know that most school elections are popularity contests. Therefore, it’s more about what you did for the club instead of what you are.</p>
<p>So, should I continue doing what I’m currently doing? As I said before, I’m going to make a robotics club in the fall, and it’s something that I’m interested in and would be willing to lead (plus I feel like our school needs a robotics club). Should I just keep doing these things that I get genuine feelings about (rather than a “I want to do this to get into this college” type of thing)? If so, what should follow? I know I said that it’s better to do things that you enjoy rather than for the sake of college, but I guess I’m keeping both things in mind when I do something revolving around academics/socialization/clubs.</p>
<p>Yes, just keep doing what you’re doing now. Join clubs that are more related to what you want to do in life or like. Don’t just join what looks good on transcripts, because there really isn’t one special club. Plus colleges don’t like to see a shopping list of unrelated clubs. If there are other clubs besides robotics that you’re GENUINELY interested in, join them, and stay with them. It’ll show colleges that you have a passion for something and who knows, maybe one day you will on the exec. board. I started joining FBLA in 10th grade, now I’m on the exec. board.</p>