With school starting up soon, most clubs in school are preparing for a new wave of freshmen to join, and trying to plan out what they'll do in the coming months. I remember myself joining organizations I didn't enjoy just so I had another thing to list off when my parent's friends ask me what I do in my free time.
In a competitive high school with high-performing peers, it seems that this contest is almost everywhere. Students are filling up their summers and weekends volunteering, not necessarily to benefit an organization, but to add to the hours they have racked up already for prestigious club that will give them a medal at graduation and an extra bullet point on their college applications.
Of course, none of this goes to say that volunteering is a bad thing, or that school clubs are a waste, but that the idea of doing things you actually enjoy is fading away. Additionally, people are pining for leadership positions, especially the ever-coveted title of "President," just so they can say that they have it. Again, there's nothing wrong at all with being involved and participating is many activities, but not caring once the status is obtained puts the entire group in a spot of limited productivity. Choosing people with popularity more than potential and planning sets everyone up difficulty.
While college applications and trying to increase chances of getting into dream schools will never go away, I think there should be less of a focus of how much a person does, but more so on how committed they are to it. Someone who's in one or two extracurriculars but gets completely involved shouldn't be regarded as less or more lazy than someone who's on the roster for a dozen groups but barely goes to meetings or doesn't make anything happen. Participating in groups that you have absolutely no interest in just makes it unenjoyable and not worth it in the long run, especially considering all of the other things that could be done instead.
To sum it all up; don't do thing that you don't enjoy doing. The school year will be starting up in a month and a half, along with dozens of opportunities to join extracurriculars. In my opinion, it's easiest to join something when it first starts, and if it's not for you, then there's nothing stopping you from leaving. Start what you want, but don't continue what you hate.
