Parkour as an extracurricular

Applying to College
1

<p>If you guys don't know what Parkour is, here's an example- YouTube</a> - Parkour, literally.</p>

<p>My favorite hobby and basically my life is Parkour and I'm planning on putting it in my application. I'm pretty good at it too and hold some positions in the National community, for example:</p>

<p>I'm the Connecticut State Representative/Contact for Americanparkour (the central organization for Parkour in the US, sort of like the main body). There's one per state and our job is to pretty much make sure everything is going well in the state scene, and help out any new people who need help. I organize meetups across the entire state, and help all the traceurs (practitioners of Parkour) connect. If anyone has any questions about Parkour in Connecticut they come to me.</p>

<p>Along with this comes the job of being a moderator on the Connecticut boards on the Americanparkour forums.</p>

<p>In addition to the above, I teach a Parkour class at my local YMCA with 2 other people. For the first 1 year or so, I am teaching as a volunteer with no pay, but still do the same job as the other teachers. However soon I'm planning to work there as a part time teacher at the YMCA. The class is very successful and I regularly teach kids from ages 12-18 (being 16 myself).</p>

<p>Also maybe by the end of the year I'm looking to maybe get sponsored as an athlete.</p>

<p>So my question is, is all this worth mentioning? I feel that it's a bit of a quirky hobby but it's what I love doing. Also, it's not really "official" so to speak so it may not hold any weight with admissions... However, it could establish a unique personality around my persona and set me away from other applicants if maybe I could write my essay about it (planning on writing an essay about training Parkour, making a statement of setting myself away from the world, following my own path and escaping from conformity and the chains of society's standards).</p>

<p>This obviously won't be my only EC, I have other stuff holding me up such as pretty much all AP classes, 2320 SAT, extensive volunteering as a Pilot Pen ballboy, etc etc etc.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help guys!</p>

2

<p>I would definitely put that down, particularly since you have spent a large amount of time and have acquired leadership positions/legitimate credentials from it, rather than just “I do Parkour.” I don’t know specifically how it is viewed by top schools since I’ve never seen it as an EC, but that is also a good thing since it is unique/possible hook.</p>

3

<p>Thanks man! And guys, I’d like some more responses</p>

<p>[YouTube</a> - 80 Degrees (HD!)](<a href=“80 Degrees (HD!) - YouTube”>80 Degrees (HD!) - YouTube)
[YouTube</a> - Till Next Year, Winter!](<a href=“Till Next Year, Winter! - YouTube”>Till Next Year, Winter! - YouTube)</p>

<p>Those are some of my vids :)</p>

4

<p>It’s something you’re very passionate about, dedicate time to, and have achievements in. I think it’s a great EC and potentially the linchpin of your application. I’d definitely put it down!</p>

5

<p>Actually, I saw that a Davidson graduate was awarded a 2010 - 2011 Watson Fellowship to research parkour across the globe. His project is called some thing like “Making the Jump: Exploring the Evolving Role of Parkour in a Global Context”. You might check out the Watson site for more details.</p>

6

<p>Thanks so much guys, I think I will in fact put it in my application :slight_smile: Maybe even write my essay on it! It is really very unique, and I think it’s gonna be my hook haha.</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

7

<p>Definitely write your essay about it, I would say you would be a fool to not write about this stuff, I saw the videos, its pretty cool stuff, some of it looks literally impossible, haha. Its very unique I would think, and you obviously care about it a lot so yeah, I can’t stress it enough, write your essay about this unless you have something even crazier that you do. </p>

<p>On a side note, have you ever been seriously injured doing this stuff, looks pretty easy to snap a neck or something.</p>

8

<p>yo dude i do parkour and thats like my fav video of real parkour… not that freerunning crap where kids break their neck ■■■■■</p>

9

<p>Ummmm yeah! That’s amazing! It’s a unique EC that’ll set you apart from the usual “President of the Blehbleh Club” people. Definitely list that.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1147466-ap-scoress-college-admissions-how-much-do-they-matter.html#post12632919[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1147466-ap-scoress-college-admissions-how-much-do-they-matter.html#post12632919&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;