Hi friends,

I hope all is going well. Are you guys excited about the Super Bowl? I always look forward to it, though I am a soccer fan and get 1000 times more fired up about the World Cup.

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Today I want to share some insight that I gained during my time as a high school and college student. As I am sure you are already aware, there are tons of things one can get involved with while you are in school. Clubs and sports teams are some examples of options available to students. Still, there are other less conventional ones out there that, if you take the time to look for them, can be extremely rewarding and beneficial for you. 

In high school, one of my favorite classes was Environmental Science AP. One day, I approached my teacher and told him I was interested getting some extra credit. To my surprise, he accepted my request and came up with a project that was fun and also a great learning experience. He gave me the names of many teachers at my school who wanted to get off junk mail lists. My job was to call the companies up and ask them to please remove that particular teacher from the list. This took my several hours, but at the end of the day I felt satisfied knowing that I had done something positive for the environment plus I got some extra points for my class. It was actually quite entertaining!

Other friends of my mine found other cool opportunities. For example, being a TA (which could go either way depending on the teacher one is TAing for), the announcer during football games, big brother or sister for incoming freshmen, volunteer building homes in Tijuana, a waiter at school dances, etc.

You might wonder, how do you find jobs or activities like these, right? The answer is simple:  ask around, talk to teachers and administrators, let others know you want to get involved. Remember, there are plenty of things happening in high school, countless opportunities waiting for you out there.

The only thing you have to do is go out and find them. Give it a try!