Service Hours, Extracuriculars, and Clubs

Due to Covid-19, I haven’t been able to get many service hours, and I am going to be a junior next year. I know I want to do something in the medical field, but I can’t volunteer at a hospital for a while. Also, in 9th grade, I didn’t speak to anyone or make any friends, and now that 10th grade is online, I ran for a leadership position in a club and didn’t get it because nobody knows who I am. For service hours, what could I do in place of volunteering at a hospital, and what are some good extracurriculars I could do if I want to be in the medical profession, and lastly, any tips on how to make a leadership position in a club.

Side Note: I want 100+ service hours because that is the requirement to get a Bright Futures Scholarship.

  1. Everyone else is in the same boat as you…The volunteer hours requirement has been loosened because of COvid-19 Florida Eases Rules On Bright Futures Scholarship Program Amid Coronavirus | WUSF Public Media

  2. Think of volunteer ideas that may not be medically based…colleges don’t really care about medical volunteering for pre-med (but maybe they do for nursing).
    If you belong to a house of worship, there may be activities you could lead.

Ours has teens leading a Backpack lunch program and a Walk for Hunger.
You could do a food drive in your neighborhood for a local Food bank…use tools like your town’s FB group or Nextdoor to solicit donations. Ask the food bank what types of food they need.

You could also volunteer to tutor local kids.

You could organize a clean up of a park/beach where people could stay away from each other.

  1. Don’t always think of leadership as President of Club…you can lead an activity. Colleges want to see your results, not your title.
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yes do not fall into the need a title for leadership. Think about what you do. Say you are involved in a sport. Now that you are in high school can you help with younger kids involved in the sport - that may not have a title but is considered leadership to many colleges.

One thing for premed is getting the hang of working well with people of all backgrounds. No idea what is available in your area and with covid but some things that are useful are helping in a senior center or nursing home, volunteering in a soup kitchen, assisting new immigrants etc. While these are not directly related to premed they are still very useful.

Another idea is to talk to your local government people and see what community events they may need help with - not all are political. For instance every neighborhood in my city has a July 4th event that needs volutneers to help plan and work at the day of.

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Spotivity is a great way to find something to do in this pandemic! Download spotivity on your phone, make an account, and then you can find so much to do in your local area. You will probably get service hours too!