In a fiercely competitive world, universities end up selecting students who are “better than the best”. So when the stakes are this high, what can you do?

An important element of strengthening one’s profile is creating your own project.

Personal projects allow high school students to explore their interests through experiential learning. As counselors, we urge our students to always think out of their box and bring their ideas to life. We told a student once, “if you are passionate about the environment, you organize an event along with a couple of interested friends: a recycling drive, a cleanup of the park, green activities, etc.” One of the great benefits of such projects is that students can apply their acquired skills and knowledge to a project they’re passionate about, while also gaining greater insight into their particular interest.

3 cool ideas to show you how to get started and create your own project:

• Last year, UC student Samarth built a website, Socialin.org. which connects professional NGOs and student Initiatives to passionate volunteers. After the volunteer joins a certain initiative, the website lets the NGO assign tasks and map their status. This way the actual experience can be carried out in an organized manner. In addition to this, it also includes a customized chat API for communication between the initiative and the volunteer.
• Aashinjina, a Mayo student started The Silver Lining, a non-profit website that focuses on helping those who are scared to seek the help they need. Her idea was to create a safe space that allows people to speak up about all those things bottled up inside you under anonymous identities.

• Nandini joined a student learning initiative called Tapsules where she was chosen as the Music mentor. In this community of learning, students post videos and podcasts on various fields such as self-defense, photography, coding, dance, and much more. As a music mentor, she makes videos teaching the basics of music theory, and how it is applied in real life as a musician, or otherwise. She is also a part of the core team consisting of 6 people who make the major decisions for the platform. Check out her latest video and learn about Musical notes and Alphabets!

The list of such original and inspiring ideas goes on and on at University Connection. So, if you are a creator and are always bustling with innovative plans, this is the right time to push yourself to dive into something that you’re enthusiastic about.

Think great, be great!