Share Your Story
Engaging in the school application process is exciting, but can also feel like an intensive process. Beyond the academic discoveries on your visits, you will also want/need to explore all those things that make schools so special, including the arts, athletics, and special programs and opportunities. Students do not need to be experienced or accomplished to engage in an activity, club or sport. However, if students have extracurricular experiences, it is awesome to share that with the schools to assure you can connect with coaches, teachers or mentors within each school to ask questions.
Schools can, and do, actively recruit for athletics and the arts. The secret is, don’t keep yourself a secret! Schools will embrace someone willing to share their passions or their willingness to try something new. Remember, you’re not bragging when you share details, they are just statements of fact meant to inform others and highlight things about you they do not already know.
Why are these things important?
- Try something new – get out of your comfort zone.
- Think trumpet, handbells, debate, cross country, mountain biking, robotics
- Instant friend/peer group
- Cultivated on van/bus trips, meals together and performances
- Preparation for college
- Ritual of training, competition, and learning success and failure in a safe environment
- Different teachers/coaches/mentors
- Embrace different teaching and coaching styles
- Your Spanish teacher may be your football coach
- Explore your level – Advanced/Beginner/Varsity, JV, Thirds
- Remember, everyone is a work in progress!
- You can do many things – be an athlete and still do arts, sciences, debate, etc.
- It’s not uncommon to leave a team practice, get changed, play in a concert, and end the evening completing a group project for a presentation the next day.
Now what?
- Before your visit, complete the initial Inquiry Form for each school, and list your interests.
- Complete the Athletic interest form, usually found on the Athletics website.
- Contact a coach, teacher, mentor via email (student should send an email copied to parents).
Share your skills, passions and interests
- Send the coach, teacher or mentor a video tape, digital recordings, Slide Share/Canva of art work or even a sample of writing.
- You should also include the admission team on the email.
