10th Grader - what should we be doing now?

Just chewing the cud here. Has anyone ever seen a candidate run track or serve as treasurer of the ABCD club for a year with no other athletics or leadership, and have it be impactful on the admission of said candidate?

I’ve coached football at one and baseball at three of the high schools I’ve taught. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the recommendation to run track to get in shape for baseball or ‘rassle to get in shape for football. Not one track or ‘rasslin coach I’ve ever asked has said they operate a charity for kids who need to get in shape or put a check in the box for admission somewhere. The handful of coaches I’ve asked about this know it happens and told me the kids never stick around past the first week of the season.
Running aka track or cross country, my sport is yours sports punishment. Wrestling the first sport I ever truly loved. No one does well in wrestling unless they love it and are willing to sacrifice. I know someone will say I sacrificed for fill in the blank, but try not eating for days to make weight and then getting on a mat with some dude who looks like he was chiseled out of stone.
 
Running aka track or cross country, my sport is yours sports punishment. Wrestling the first sport I ever truly loved. No one does well in wrestling unless they love it and are willing to sacrifice. I know someone will say I sacrificed for fill in the blank, but try not eating for days to make weight and then getting on a mat with some dude who looks like he was chiseled out of stone.
It's the toughest sport in school. The conditioning is brutal.
 
Running aka track or cross country, my sport is yours sports punishment. Wrestling the first sport I ever truly loved. No one does well in wrestling unless they love it and are willing to sacrifice. I know someone will say I sacrificed for fill in the blank, but try not eating for days to make weight and then getting on a mat with some dude who looks like he was chiseled out of stone.
I 110% agree with your post

I was a wrestler for all 4 years of my high school career and I absolutely think I am better for it. While I didn't do anything remarkable enough to be recruited for, it taught me how to push through discomfort in high-stress situations and how to focus on a goal without quitting (i.e. cutting weight).

"Once you wrestle, everything else becomes easier" - Ruben Valencia
 
Should a 10th grader be contacting the wrestling coach yet? I have a wrestler who wants to attend the CGA. I thought 10th grade was a little early, is that correct?
 
Asking for opinions. I've seen here several times in the past three years the recommendation to start a club in order to have extracurriculars. Of course if a student starts a club then they can be in a leadership position. This flyer is posted in my school. Is this an example of starting a club which would look good in a candidate's record in the academy admissions process? The subject of the club isn't the question. These days every club one can imagine already exists, so starting a club just for the purpose of a resume filler seems for the most part a waste of time.

club.jpg
 
This flyer is posted in my school. Is this an example of starting a club which would look good in a candidate's record in the academy admissions process?

Good question ....starting a club just to have "start a club" on the resume doesn't do anything in my opinion.

If you identify a real need in the school community, and lead the charge and make a difference, then it is meaningful.

Let's use your flyer as an example -- what is the problem this group is trying to address and what are they going to do about it ? If their goal is to show how "woke" they are, and virtue signal by selling T-shirts that proclaim their desire to promote Global Awareness...then nah, it doesn't do anything for me. On the other hand, if they identify an school in Cambodia, raise awareness and send money that makes a difference in some kids life, then I am all in. (BTW, last example isn't a high school kids starting a club, but rather one of my Classmates who was teaching overseas, discovered a really run down school, and took the bull by the horns, raised money and led a massive clean up....it was incredible to see the transformation, as well as my Classmate leading the hokey-pokey with a bunch of 5-10 year old Cambodian kids. (He had pledged the hokey pokey if we met his fundraising goal !)
 
If someone really wants to attend a SA , wants to serve their country in the military, and is not a AD prior or being highly recruited by the SA for diversity or sports , with things so unbelievably competitive to get in——-why on earth only apply to one SA?

That just makes no sense to me
 
-why on earth only apply to one SA?
Some apply because they are only interested in one branch of the Service ...
I am actually more skeptical of the Candidate that only applies to a Service Academy, and doesn't apply to ROTC programs as well. There are several ways to become an Officer in each of the Services, and the Service Academy is only one. The back of mind always ask is whether the Candidate really wants to serve, or just want to be able to say they applied and got accepted to a Service Academy.
 
There are real differences between the services, so I get that a person might only be drawn to one or another of them just as I could see Service being a goal well above which particular one works out. My DD, for example, only applied to CGA because it is pretty different and she was really drawn to that mission. But I totally agree with pairing each SA application with one for its corresponding ROTC program. If you want Navy then explore all the paths that lead there. If you want any service at all then get your xROTC apps in, up and down the list.
 
I'm of two minds about how useful a club needs to be. There is a real need for some communities within a school to have a group where they can feel accepted and supported and they don't really do much else. But it can be a short walk from substantial (eg LGBTQ+ club) to triviality (eg the story below.) I think people in the business of evaluating student resumes might tend to see through some of these unless there's a pretty complete description of the why and how of the organization, if it'll be sustainable, if it made any difference and all that sort of thing.

OK, funny story time: a good friend of mine (who we'll call Stan Smith here) created the Stan Smith Fan Club at his small private school in rural MN back in the 80s. He photocopied membership cards, held monthly meetings, charged $0.30 annual membership dues and held fake Sponsor An Iguana campaigns to save Galapagos Island residents for a ridiculously small token fee. He got about a quarter of the school to join. He ran it for a couple years and ended up with a yearbook page his senior year. I think he donated the balance of the treasury (fully dozens of dollars) to the school when he graduated. I do not believe he put it on his law school apps however.
 
If someone really wants to attend a SA , wants to serve their country in the military, and is not a AD prior or being highly recruited by the SA for diversity or sports , with things so unbelievably competitive to get in——-why on earth only apply to one SA?

That just makes no sense to me
My daughter also only applied to CGA. Their mission is quite different than the others. She was drawn to their humanitarian mission and the law enforcement aspect. Plus, she loves the water and liked that they are smaller. Her backups included universities where she would be eligible for CSPI.
 
I think the mission of the USCG is pretty different from the mission of the Army, Navy, Air Force so I don't see any issue saying "This is what interests me"... I think my son will either do the USCGA or go the CSPI Route - for him it's "Coast Guard of Bust" ...at least right now - he is only 15 so next week he could totally change direction and I am applying no pressure at all... just trying to give him his best shot if he stays on this path.
 
sorry - didnt mean to say CSPI - just mean to join post college... too many acroynms in my head
 
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