Inviting 8th Graders into Research
Adrienne Martinez-Hollingsworth, PhD, RN, PHN, WAN
Director of Research & Evaluation, AltaMed Institute for Health Equity | Human-Centered Design in Value Based Care | Latino/x Community Health
Maybe it's an odd use of a softball roster, but when I recognized space in my current research for a social media expert... my first thought was of emailing the offer to my daughter's 8th grade teammates.
It seems these days, everyone in our social circle is so concerned about maximizing their child's chances of getting accepted to a "good" university that they are willing to pursue any number of extracurricular activities to help them stand-out from the crowd. Should they volunteer? Start a club? Get a summer job that demonstrates perseverance in the face of rude customers and manual labor?
My response: don't do it. Don't encourage them to get involved in activities for the sole purpose of a college application. Support them in the pursuit of activities that are challenging, exciting, rewarding. Activities that may teach them a little about themselves and their true interests may ultimately reveal to them future paths they may not otherwise have considered.
These interests are likely to be:
More engaging- likely inspiring them to be more dedicated to the project, or take a more active, unprompted role;
More personalized- allowing them to explore aspects of a topic that appeals specifically to them (potentially revealing a future path);
and, perhaps most importantly,
More about growth and independence- as opposed to a child participating in (yet another) activity that has been planned, designed and orchestrated on their behalf.
What do top colleges want to see on an application? That the individual has the ability to think for themselves, plan a project and display the fortitude and dedication to carry it through; that they are capable of working with a team (and leading when necessary); that they are capable of independent thought and possess the ability to research the existing literature before they establish an opinion. In short- top colleges want to see that a student is capable of independent, scholarly behavior, and that they are mature enough to pursue scholarly inquiry.
Research projects have all that- they have it in spades.
Incidentally, within 5 minutes of sending an email out to my daughter's teammates, I had a girl contact me with a professional introduction, provide all her contact information and availability for the next two weeks. Now that's a kid I will defend to our admission's committee any day.