Extracurricular activities. Ladue has a lot of them. Habitat for Humanity, DECA, Model UN, Science Olympiad, Chess Club, the Young Democrats, the Young Republicans, and Panorama are just a few of the countless clubs, organizations, and activities that attract countless Ladue students to join them.

But why do they join them?

They take up time with many requiring long-term commitments. Many, like Science Olympiad or debate, require a lot of work. Based on all the complaining from people in these activities, activities add to the stress that high school students already possess in large quantities.

So why participate in any activities outside of the normal school day? The answer for many is to bulk a college resume.

Many students would vehemently deny this. They would claim that they are doing Science Olympiad or debate or Math Club because they enjoy it. That could be true. However, based on personal observations, very few people ever look like they are having any fun whatsoever while participating in one of these activities.

Obviously, extracurricular activities are a large part of college resumes. However, I think that many students are taking the wrong approach when choosing clubs. Clubs should be fun! You only have four years of high school, so you might as well enjoy yourself a bit while you are here. Why suffer through a club for several months just so you get the joy of typing it onto the Common Application?

The other thing wrong with this “resume stuffing” approach is that it hurts the people in the club who are doing it for non-college reasons. If you try out a club for the first time, but see people only driven to participate for college applications instead of simple joy, there’s no reason you would want to return.

In short, I’m not saying that every person in a club is doing it to help get them into college. Many people are doing it for fun or to do legitimate volunteer work for the community (in the case of Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International, etc). However, to those who aren’t, I would just like to leave you with something.

Colleges may appreciate a laundry list of clubs and organizations. They don’t know, simply from reading your application, whether you actually cared. You might get into an elite college because you stayed after school for countless hours in a club you didn’t like. Then again, if you have to explain in an interview why you enjoyed your extracurricular activity (and you really didn’t), then it may not be helping you at all.

More importantly, students and teachers do notice if you like the club or if you’re there to say you’ve been. I’m not saying you should never do anything for your college resume. I am asking everyone to start choosing clubs with different motives in mind.

I’m just saying.