Languages as extracurricular
I come from an immigrant background, growing up in a Chinese immigrant family. My household was a blend of Mandarin and Cantonese, so I grew up understanding both dialects naturally. At the same time, I was learning English, and I became fluent in it. Currently, I’m taking German instead of Chinese because I felt I had already reached a high enough level for AP Chinese, having self-studied for it over the past year during my freshman year.
Last week, I took the AP Chinese exam despite not taking the actual class, just because I believe I self-studied enough plus my already existing knowledge. This summer, I plan to start self-studying French, aiming to take the AP French exam in my senior year—or maybe even in my junior year if I’m fortunate. My goal is to finish my AP German class in my senior year as well. These ideas had been part of my plan since I first started exploring my interests in Tech and language learning.
What truly motivates me is how much I’ve enjoyed learning German ever since just a month into the school year in late October. My language teacher, Mr. Hurd, has been a huge inspiration. He’s fluent in four languages which are French, German, Czech, English and has a good understanding of Russian and Spanish. He is even both currently teaching both French and German, and he used to be a teacher for English for ENL students. Spending time with him has continued to increase my admiration for languages and opened my eyes to new possibilities. I didn’t realize before how much I loved languages until I met him. I’ve always been fascinated by history and different cultures since sixth grade, but under his influence, I’ve discovered a real passion for language learning as a way to connect with the world and make myself proud.
However, I still do have doubts about whether this path is strong enough for college applications. I still do care a lot about standing out and making my extracurriculars meaningful. I believe my language journey is unique, enjoyable, and genuinely beneficial for me, but I wonder if the way I’m pursuing it aligns with what colleges value or if it’s enough to impress admissions officers. My freshman year is coming to a end, and I haven’t established much into my extracurricular activities besides making deeper plans, if I was a admissions officer and looking at my performance this year alone, I’ve would look at a kid like me just someone average at best with a big ambition but never truly does the work. I don’t believe I am good enough to run for student government or as a leader overall. Right now, I find myself questioning whether what I’m doing is the right path. It’s a bit confusing and uncertain, and I wonder if I will keep believing in the same idea in the future as I am now, I always been a huge over thinker