This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UVA chapter.
It’s no surprise that you graduated top of your class, were the class president, homecoming queen/king, and found the cure to some foreign disease all while managing to keep your GPA at a stellar 4.0 or higher. I mean that’s what you’re at UVA right?
And if we are being honest you had every intention of continuing your amazing and super involved life style into your college career at UVA because that is what inspired you and made you stand out all through high school. But you got to UVA and you tried to get involved, and guess what? So did everyone else! You found yourself competing with students just as driven as you are and while that sounds like a great thing, it has left you feeling nothing short of average and unworthy.
Well, don’t worry, average isn’t too bad after all. While it may seem like everyone around you is the head of a CIO, the president of their Greek life organization, involved in varsity athletics, and maintaining a spot on the Dean’s List every semester, it’s not true. If you ask anyone they are probably drowning it their feelings of being “average” as well.
Attending a competitive school like UVA is wonderful once you get out into the “real world”, but while you’re here you can feel like you are suffocating under the pressure to overachieve and excel. The fastest way to do that is to find things and organizations that you are passionate about and participate in those to the best of your ability. While getting involved in a lot might sound great, remember that on a resume they always want to know how long you participated in each activity. How long you are a part of an organization speaks about you than a packed resume with things that you only participated in for a short period of time.
While dong less might make you feel average, it could actually put you ahead of other UVA students. So next time you attempt to be UVA’s extra curricular Superman or Wonder Woman, remember it’s the quality of the work you do in each organization you are a part of, not the number of organizations you have joined that sets you a part.