As Seniors treasure their last term of high school, and the next matriculating class prepares for their future Andover careers, Spring Term often brings about a sort of “turnover mania.” Student groups begin seeking out prospective leaders for next year, club members become swamped by applications and the atmosphere becomes more competitive. Club members frequently find that going far above and beyond expectations becomes standard, not special.
Extracurriculars are meant to supplement student life outside of the classroom as rewarding learning opportunities. During application season, however, they can often become burdensome, stressful and cut-throat. Though it is necessary for a club member to prove that he or she is capable of the duties of a board member, this approach is not conducive to a thriving club dynamic.
When applying, club members can easily lose sight of the true reason they apply for these positions. Whether it’s the prestige of the title, the power that it comes with or an extra row filled in on the Common Application, the original passion for the club itself can easily succumb to the esteem of a position. With such intense application processes, the newly appointed board members risk burning out too early, leading to less club activity in the Fall and Winter Terms. Despite the newfound security of board positions, students cannot lose sight of their original love for the activity.
Application season should not be a time to prove oneself to be better than his or her competition, but a time to review the past year and make goals and plans for the future. Instead of feeding the current culture of competition, students should approach application season with the same motives with which they approached the activity during the rest of the school year. As opposed to applying for positions to just get the title, students should strive to hold positions in activities they are passionate about. This way, the club’s board members will actually enjoy their responsibilities, rather than finding them to be burdensome, and the club will benefit under the resulting dedicated leadership.
This Editorial represents the views of The Phillipian Editorial Board CXXXVI.
