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Just wrote this article: You can be sure that a few months from now, when high school seniors are writing their college applications, everybody, their brother, and their dog will be writing about COVID-19. It’s just going to be unavoidable. Many of you are a little young to remember this, but after 9/11 something similar happened—everybody wrote something about how the attacks affected them (even if in truth fortunately the worst many of us endured was some level of uncertainty or longer waits at the airport). This time is different. Half the planet is under orders to shelter in place. We are united in a way that has not happened in our lifetimes, and we are, for the first time in history, able to communicate in real time with almost every other part of the globe. I personally have friends in China, Brasil, Africa, and Europe that I’m chatting with daily about quarantining. I’m sure you have similar stories. Of course, the admissions committees will be aware that there is now the ‘easy, obvious’ topic to write about and many will likely craft new prompts to ask you specifically about your unique experience in a way that suits college applicants. So, now is the time to get busy. Think about what you can do for yourself, for your community, and for the world. But also think a few months ahead about what you’ll be writing about for your college applications. I’m sure you have some great ideas yourself, and I’d love to hear them. I have a few ideas that I would like to share (and perhaps you’re already doing one or more), with a couple of other ideas that may inspire you as well. 1. Keep a journal You may be doing this already, as I know a lot of teachers are requiring their students to keep a journal. I agree with them—this is a historic time, and you’ll want to look back on it some years down the road. I would also suggest recording short videos and taking photos as well; you may want to turn this into a project of sorts, and having various media on hand will help. But at the very least, write down a few sentences every day to record what you did and how you felt. Take a couple of pictures or videos of life at home, six people in the kitchen, your no-haircut hair, your freezer stuffed with food. 2. Set up an accountability/study group If you’re like most of the kids I know or work with (even my own children), then you’re seeing this situation as a kind of extended spring break and are enjoying your time off, maybe sleeping later than usual and watching a lot of Netflix. But you’ll admit that you’re starting to feel just a tad bored. Unfortunately, this is the human condition—we don’t like working so much as having worked, and we often need an outside motivator to keep us working. This is perfectly normal. Don’t beat yourself up over it. But if you truly want to set yourself apart, now is the time to be the kind of person you know you can be. This is your chance; there’s no better opportunity. You’ve got the time, and you have more freedom to make choices than you’ve probably had in your entire life. And you also know that developing your mind is a lifelong pursuit, but one that is especially important to engage in now at your age—learning a lot as a young person is developmentally more important in your early years than it is in later years since your brain is still maturing and is able to take in information in qualitatively different ways now than it will when you’re, say, 60 years old. Disclaimer: Learning is always important. It’s never not important. In fact, learning as an adult can slow down certain kinds of aging and help retain brain function. But young people who don’t get certain kinds of information at certain stages of their development have trouble catching up, and some may never catch up. Finally, if you’re the type that’s aiming for top schools, then you’re also the type who’s a self-starter, someone who does the hard stuff because you enjoy it or like the challenge, not because you have to. If your teacher recommends reading an article, you do it. You take detailed notes in class, highlight with yellow, pink, blue, and green, and review your notes later. You ask at least several questions in every class, not to kiss up, but because you really want to know. If that’s you, then you’ve probably already figured out some kind of study schedule. If it’s not you, but you’re becoming that person, here’s your chance to inch towards your goal. So find a group of friends from school. Set goals for yourselves, set times to meet, and check in on each other. You can even set a time to set daily expectations. ‘Yo Adrian, let’s set up a Zoom meeting for every morning at 9:30 AM to check in on each other. We’ll have a stand-up and announce to everybody what we’re going to get done for the day.’ Maybe even create a Google spreadsheet to write down your assignments and goals with due dates. You will thank yourself if you do this. Your grades will thank you. And your teachers will appreciate not having to manage you as well. And on that note, another way to stay busy while helping others coming right up. 3. Offer to help a teacher You may find this hard to believe, but many teachers are feeling a little overwhelmed right now. For years, they’ve been teaching in one way, and then almost literally overnight, they’ve been told that they need to change virtually everything they do in just a few days. It’s like coming home to your house, and suddenly, you’re living in a tent while you’re rebuilding your new house in a different country. Everything is different. I know some teachers are working 12-15 hour days right now just to adapt to this new learning scenario. If you feel comfortable doing so, you could approach a teacher and ask if there’s any way you could help. Most likely, the teacher will politely decline and say that she, he, or they is happy if you just keep up with the work assigned, but maybe if you offer to help by setting up study groups to keep all students on track, your teacher will be thankful. 4. Give back/help someone else So much of our lives is consumed by our own desires that we often forget that others have desires just as powerful and real as our own. You may not think so, but someone out there could really benefit from some help from you specifically, from someone to talk about random life stuff to going over some difficult concepts in Pre-Calc. Yes, you. You can make a difference. Put yourself out there and offer to help. Perhaps even get involved with some local tutoring organizations, from your library to community centers to other organizations that are popping up to help others. 5. Make masks Here’s an easy one! Our President has recommended that we all wear masks when we go out in public. I think this is a great idea, and wearing a mask shows others that you’re taking this situation seriously; by wearing a mask, you’re functioning as a role model. Maybe someone somewhere will see you wearing your mask and think, ‘Hey, if she’s doing it, so will I.’ And that person could also inspire another person! So a lot of people are asking where they can get masks, while others are stepping up to make them for others to give away. It’s probably just a matter of time before people in the US use masks to make fashion statements, to distinguish themselves, or to promote their club or brand (because if you don’t have your own brand, you aren’t playing the game!), so this is a good time to get in on the ground floor if that’s your thing. Here’s a good resource to start with: Use Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow Spread | CDC And you never know, you may save a life! (For real.) 6. Reinvent yourself Finally, this is your chance to ‘reinvent’ yourself. If you’ve had something in the back of your mind that you thought you could accomplish, now’s the time to start working towards it. I have a friend who, at the very beginning of the COVID-19 spread in the US, lost her job as a direct result of business shutdowns. Not a week later, she and her longtime boyfriend broke up (not unexpected, but still). With no job, and no boyfriend, instead of sinking into the pits of dark despair and self-pity, she has decided to throw herself into remaking herself to be better than she ever was. She is taking online courses in her interests, meditating, keeping a journal, and exercising at home. So, think about setting some goals for yourself. Here are some examples to get you started. Write out the following somewhere: When COVID-19 ends, I will have: Completed six chapters of Learn Python the Hard Way. (Link: Learn Python the Hard Way) Memorized 60 Chinese characters. (Hint: Look into Anki, which uses spaced repetition, to maximize memorization: Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards) Done three sets of 20 burpees every day + a daily bodyweight routine. (Link: kb/recommended_routine - bodyweightfitness) Helped a friend, relative, or fellow student at least once a day. Again, these are just some ideas to get you thinking. Surely you have your own ideas of what to learn or improve, from knitting to baking to Spanish to Arduino. Final thoughts These are historic times; what you do now will shape you forever. You have a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime chance to make something of yourself, to be a new you. And more pragmatically, if you’re applying to college in the next year or two, you may very well need to write about what you’re doing right now.