Podcasts are the simplest passion projects to start. A phone is all you need--pick a group of people, perhaps friends, teachers, family to interview in 15 minute conversations about a topic that interests you. Not sure what interests you? Refer to last week’s post: make a list of everything that doesn’t interest you and see what’s left!
Next, record voice memos, create a simple piece of artwork and post on Spotify, Apple, or the Anchor app. Make sure to practice: you will likely not post your first few attempts.
Resistant about starting a podcast? Many students are.
“The last thing I wanted to do was start a podcast…” wound up being the first line of this student’s Common App essay. During the pandemic, like every other athlete who saw their sports canceled, he was unable to play hockey. A quiet guy who was uncomfortable speaking to people, he decided to interview student athletes whose recruitment offers were rescinded. Then, he began to wonder about the big picture of college sports. This turned into researching “Why do colleges have sports? Who pays for them?” “How do they become so profitable?” Those questions sparked his interests in sports, business, and journalism, and eventually revealed the direction of his career.
Use popular social media platforms! TikTok is good for students who do not like to speak. Start a channel and record six videos that show what you like. Create content, perhaps how-to videos. Break something down, like five bullet points about a video game, or review a book about the game, a movie, or music. It's not important how many views you get (although you may be surprised). Simply write text and post it. A passion project should feel authentic, not fake.
Create a squarespace or Wix website and post your own artwork/performances–or those your friends have created. Look for surprises in the process…these can change the relationships of the people participating and even create essay ideas you can use later.
Write a 20 page E-book and self-publish it on Amazon!
Podcasts are the simplest passion projects to start. A phone is all you need--pick a group of people, perhaps friends, teachers, family to interview in 15 minute conversations about a topic that interests you. Next, record voice memos, create a simple piece of artwork and post on Spotify, Apple, or the Anchor app. Make sure to practice: you will likely not post your first few attempts.
Resistant about starting a podcast? Many students are.
“The last thing I wanted to do was start a podcast…” wound up being the first line of this student’s Common App essay. During the pandemic, like every other athlete who saw their sports canceled, he was unable to play hockey. A quiet guy who was uncomfortable speaking to people, he decided to interview student athletes whose recruitment offers were rescinded. Then, he began to wonder about the big picture of college sports. This turned into researching “Why do colleges have sports? Who pays for them?” “How do they become so profitable?” Those questions sparked his interests in sports, business, and journalism, and eventually revealed the direction of his career.
Use popular social media platforms! A TikTok is good for students who do not like to speak. Start a channel and record six videos that show what you like. Create content, perhaps how-to videos. Break something down, like five bullet points about a video game, or review a book about the game, a movie, or music. It's not important how many views you get (although you may be surprised). Simply write text and post it. A passion project should feel authentic, not fake.
Create a squarespace or Wix website and post your own artwork/performances–or those your friends have created. Look for surprises in the process…these can change the relationships of the people participating and even create essay ideas you can use later.
Write a 20 page E-book and self-publish it on Amazon!
When we hear “passion project,” we often think of something wild and ambitious, like raising venture capital for a company or starting a 501C3. In reality, a passion project is simply something outside of school (although it can be academic in nature) that shows admissions officers that you are curious–and that you actively explore that curiosity by digging into the material to find answers. It makes you more interesting, relatable, and memorable.
How to start?
Few students are passionate enough about one thing that they know exactly what they want to do. Some have too many interests, others have no idea. If you have many interests and cannot choose, remember that passion is just curiosity. The idea you start with as a junior may not resonate with you as a senior, but allow it to evolve so you can stick with it and finish your project. Stay curious! Give yourself the freedom to combine different fields.
Not sure what you are interested in? Experiment and make a list of everything you are definitely not interested in! Keep writing until you have nothing left. Everything not on the list can be an idea for your project. These projects can help you learn about yourself by going through the process.
Don’t worry about it not being “scholarly.” Any of your outside interests qualify as a starting point, including video gaming. You can find leadership in your videogame community by creating a tournament, first in your school, then expanding it. Even better, explore the building of games, the storytelling elements, how a game goes from idea to production, who the collaborators that start a game are. How do they make money? What is the business model? Write about the future of that game. Videogames represent a 100 billion dollar industry!
What projects are easiest to start? We’ll talk about that next week.