What are the Stealthy Ones Doing this Summer?

By Quetzal Mama • June 15, 2016

2016 Copyright Roxanne Ocampo

During summertime, many students simply want to “veg out.”  Their sentiment:  “I worked so hard all year long, so I deserve a break!”  Others want time to reflect and spend time with friends and family.  Then, there are students with discretionary income that might travel abroad for the summer to experience another culture.

But, there’s another group of students – the stealthy ones.  They don’t leisurely embrace their summers binge-watching on Netflix or Hulu.  Instead, their attitude is, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

In fact, the current Quetzal Mama Scholars are spending their weekends taking ACT practice tests, reading autobiographies, and are enrolled in challenging community college courses.  They’re not focused on this week, this month, or even this summer.  They’re focused on the bigger goal – getting into college.

So how do the stealthy ones do it?  Let’s break it down.  Here are four things stealthy students do during the summer to rock their applications.

Stuff Related to Their Major – The stealthy ones don’t waste time taking classes or enrolling in programs unrelated to their majors.  Instead, they find activities directly related to the major they intend to pursue.  Think about it.  Is there not any superior way to demonstrate interest and passion for your major?  What does that look like?  It looks like enrolling in community college courses.  For example, if your intended major is Pre-Med, you can benefit from taking college level courses in Biology, Neuroscience, or Organic Chemistry.  If you can’t get into a community college course, find local programs – like extension programs at the local university – that offer interesting topics related to your major.  Or, investigate pre-college programs (free) that immerse students in a range of topics.  Bottom line: unless your intended major is Pre Columbian Amphibians, you’ll be able to find many activities.

Stuff That Gives Back to Their Community – the stealthy ones know summer time is the perfect opportunity to earn oodles of community service hours.  They know, on a practical level, the school year imposes too many time restrictions on when and where volunteer efforts can be served.   And, beyond the goal of accumulating impressive service hours, stealthy ones know the most meaningful service occurs when they can invest the most amount of focused time.  The interesting thing with the stealthy ones is that their motivation to serve is rarely tied to a college application benefit.  In other words, they don’t simply serve to game the system.  They serve because, for them, it’s a calling; a responsibility; a personal goal.

Stuff That Expands Their Brain Muscle –  Stealthy ones know the brain shouldn’t take a break during the summer.  So, they do things to stimulate this muscle.  They participate in things like chess camps, literary groups, or summer Honors programs.  They read books ranging from philosophy, religion, and physics, to political science and autobiographies.  And, they know they don’t need a formal program to stimulate their brain.  They can learn a new language using online tools, or they can participate in food science by concocting recipes in their kitchen.  The point is, they are challenging themselves intellectually.

Stuff That Speaks to Their Culture – Finding ways to relate to our culture is tricky.  We’re so immersed in our culture so it’s hard to differentiate from simply “existing” in our everyday lives to formally identifying, learning, and expressing cultura.  The reality is, we can always learn more about our history, language, and traditions.  Stealthy students know they can visit museums to learn about Latin American art.  Or, they can attend Latina/o music festivals – experiencing the beautiful sounds of Brazilian samba and bossa nova, Chilean zamacueca, Panamanian tamborito and cumbias, or son de Cuba.  Better yet, set the Pandora station to whichever Latin American genre suits you.  Aside from music, there are Latino food blogs where students can learn regional history and politics of food (yes, food is political).

The reality is there are literally millions of things students can do during the summer to enhance their college applications.  Most of these activities are very low cost, if not free.  And, all activities – whether formal or informal – have the potential to help students grow mentally, physically, spiritually, and culturally.

If you enjoyed this article, please like it!  Also, find related articles on extracurricular activities here.  Find Quetzal Mama’s books on Amazon & Barnes & Noble.