Unlock Your Potential: Students in Our Passion Project Class Are More Likely to Secure Awards
Join successful Aralia students who have won top writing and research competitions and secured admission to their dream schools.
So, what are Passion Projects?
Passion Projects are a great way for high school students to gain the upper hand during college selections. Having good grades, good attendance, and actively participating in school activities such as being part of national honor societies or part of AP classes are definitely one way to get on a college’s radar; however, those are very common amongst top tier universities. So how can a student stand out amongst other top performers? Passion projects! They are projects that are not given by teachers or schools, they are individually pursued endeavors that show off many aspects that an application and academic scores cannot show.
Benefits of having a Passion Project?
First, it shows that you are ambitious because you are willing to go above and beyond the average student to dive deeper into your passions or interests. Second, it helps with your personal growth by showing that you are hungry to learn more about things that are outside of academic boundaries; many students excel at exams and schoolwork and then continue their studies outside of school to pursue their interests. Third, taking on a Passion Project expands your vision and broadens the horizon for what you are truly capable of, whether it is in your hard skills, your social skills, creativity, or the talents that you already have in you. Lastly, a Passion Project can help you build a portfolio for not only universities but also future career opportunities, depending on your project. For example, if you decide to create a website or an app and plan on majoring in graphic design or computer science, it will put you ahead of the competition when looking for a job post-graduation. It is highly advised to pursue these projects only if you are truly passionate about them and can align your project with what you want to do in the future so that the time invested into these projects can produce actual value for you and your goals.
Your Passion Project should be uniquely you and show a side of you that isn’t often represented in your other endeavors. Students can do hundreds of passion projects, and they can be broken into many categories. We will be talking about five of them today, along with examples of what you might choose to do within those categories.
Traditional Research Projects
The first category is research-based projects, which are a great way to show that you have a thirst for knowledge, the drive to investigate the unknown, and demonstrate your analytical skills. Research is a broad topic and can be delved into many different ways, such as taking polls or studying human psychology. Of course, it is better if you choose a topic that you are passionate about so that you can truly put your heart into it.
- One could conduct research on their cultural history, or even their own personal family tree by interviewing their older family members and/or people in their community, since most cultures have ways to be able to connect to one another, mainly through forms of social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp, etc.
- Conducting a project on the impact of current trends/topics, such as the benefit of getting a degree
- Creating a travel itinerary requires extensive research on the history and culture of the location, either abroad or even in the local town or city.
- Volunteering as a research assistant would also greatly help your portfolio if you plan to pursue research as a career.
Major-specific projects
The second category of projects that are academically aligned can help students dig deeper into their major and future career so that they can get a better understanding of what they are getting themselves into. Projects such as these are great for universities to look at, because they allow them to see the drive and reason behind why you chose to apply to them and the major you are specifically looking towards. For example:
- If you are interested in UX design or computer science, you can build and design a website or app.
- Delving into photography or a short film about the beauty of your city or another place that you are passionate about
- Creating a social media page dedicated to interior designs and inspirations similar to Pinterest
- Starting a business, such as selling t-shirts, lemonade, or anything easily made at home, can showcase many of your attributes such as management, analytical skills, social skills, etc.
90% of Aralia Students Win Awards in Writing Contests
Aralia’s writing contest preparation classes have a proven track record of success. Our students consistently win awards, thanks to personalized coaching from award-winning teachers who have years of experience guiding students.
Writing/Literature
Writing or literature-based projects are great ways to express oneself on paper or online. They are a comprehensive way to put your communication and social skills in the spotlight because one would need to clearly express their ideas and opinions on paper to convey their feelings to their readers—whether it is a sad piece, happy piece, upsetting piece, or piece that expresses many other emotions.
- Blogs are very common ways to express your opinion on trendy topics, such as the current wave of K-pop taking over the music industry and its popularity in the past few years.
- Interviews can also be used to connect multiple people’s opinions on a specific topic and/or set of questions.
- Creating a book of stories, whether it is fairy tales, horror/ghost stories, or fantasy, if one truly likes to tell stories or indulges in activities of similar aspects
- A collection of calligraphy from either your own personal culture or another culture
Creative/Arts and Craft
Utilizing arts and crafts or creative projects would clearly show your artistic talents but also give an image of what you are passionate about and your particular art style. Similarly to literature works, it shows how one can communicate feelings through one’s work.
- Scrapbooking your high school life in chronological order and your growth academically, such as any competitions won or awards
- Participating in culinary arts or gastronomy classes that are outside of the school curriculum
- A collection of your artwork, whether it is pottery, paintings, drawings, etc, is a great way to create a certain image or expectation of your portfolio when applying to art schools.
- Composing a song or a series of poems
Organizational projects
The best way to show that you take initiative and love to work as a team is through organizational projects. It can be a broad type of work, such as volunteer services and group workshops. Through these projects, universities can expect you to be a team player and potential leader.
- Volunteer for community work, such as assisting with voting ballots during election days or volunteering at food drives or blood drives.
- Organizing workshops for many skills, like hands-on skills such as cooking or hosting a financial literacy class, or even helping your fellow students apply for student loans/grants to help with tuition.
- Start a fundraising project for a greater purpose other than yourself, such as cleaning up the neighborhood or something global, such as providing water or another type of charity you are passionate about.
- Curating an event that can help showcase other people’s talent such as an exhibit where other students can have the opportunity to display their artwork or talents, similar to a talent show.
Conduct passion projects with Aralia Education teachers
At Aralia, we offer various passion projects targeting different parts of the high school curriculum and experience leading to college. Our philosophy will always be to focus on you, your improvement, and your success. Aralia’s science tutors are inspired teachers and professors committed to student success. They are recognized in their field or teaching at top US high schools and colleges/universities.
In conclusion, whichever topic or category that you wish to base your passion on should solely be because of your personal interest. It should naturally align with the college or university that you are applying to, because that is the reason why you are even considering that institution, whether it is for a specific major they provide or their morals. Regardless, it should be something you feel strongly about so that it can bring out your best talents and skills. Many students want to be able to stand out amongst the others and a Passion Project can do exactly that!
