Extra-curriculars help admissions

Lynn Have you seen the movie “The Break Up”?  I did, and it was terrible.  Seriously, really terrible.  Even so, I’ve managed to find blog inspiration from it.  There is one scene in which the wife is angry at the husband not because she wants him to do the dishes, but because she wants him to want  to do the dishes.  Which clearly leaves him baffled and infuriated.

During recent high school visits, I was asked about what Holy Cross wants to see students do.  Do we want you to do community service?  Play a sport?  Take on a leadership role?  Sure we do.  But more importantly, we want you to want to do it.  “It” can be just about anything.  Holy Cross creates no hierarchy for extra-curricular involvement.  We want you to be active in your school and in your community, in the ways that you think you can most contribute and that you find most enjoyable.  The best way to prove that you will contribute to a college both in and out of the classroom is by doing just that at your high school.  Whatever you choose to do, do it with gusto.  When you tell us about your involvement, make us believe you love it–not that you love the way it looks on your resume.  You have a lot going on right now.  You owe it to yourself to spend your time doing what you love.  And we’ll love you for it.

Oh, and skip “The Break Up.”