’Tis the season of graduating club leaders stepping down and leaving their positions to the new presidents of the 2025-26 school year. As these leaders assume their new positions, let’s take some time to reflect upon why we actually hold these roles.

 There is no doubt our school is incredibly college-centered. As students, we often watch our classmates apply to become the president of five clubs, run for student council or participate in tons of community service (and more!), yet some choose to hold these roles for the sole purpose of benefiting their college applications. Holding so many leadership roles has its downsides, however. 

 First, students may be spreading themselves thin. As extracurricular responsibilities amass, leaders may sacrifice the state of one leadership position for another. It is your peers — some of whom look up to you — who are affected by your faltering leadership, too.

 There are immense flaws in both the student-leader application and role-execution system that encourage this kind of competition and extracurricular-amassing-obsession among the student body.

 Since students don’t receive grades for their performance as leaders, there is limited accountability, leading to stagnation within organizations. Underwhelming leadership is disappointing for an organization’s members.

 The club-creation process is fundamentally imperfect, as well. With the current club-creation steps, it is easy for a student to begin their own club, slap it on their apps and subsequently meet once a year, creating no lasting impact within the school community. Each club requires a faculty leader, too, but this step feels unnecessary. Faculty advisors rarely play a role in small clubs, especially given that they are not being compensated for their roles, nor is the club significant to their larger purpose at the school. Most clubs are perfectly capable of being student-led, too, so the faculty advisor just feels like another checkbox.

 Finally, when signing up to become a file reader or junior guide, among other positions, the applications require that the applicant list ALL of the organizations in which they are involved; this serves the purpose of selecting proficient student leaders with whom students can connect on multiple different levels. With the number of clubs and organizations being the factor that allows a student to obtain a role of leadership, does this not encourage students to sign up for everything possible — despite their legitimate interests? Doesn’t this result in the same students holding all of the positions of leadership in the school, negatively impacting the school’s desire to create a well-rounded student body?

 The school needs to establish some method of holding student leaders accountable for their actions. For example, if a student wishes to create their own club, they should have to endure more than just a Google Form in order to do so; their club should be required to meet a certain number of times per year, or they should have to check in with the school each month in order to ensure that they are continuing their cause. This will establish some sort of “grading” system for student leaders. Additionally, faculty advisors should not be a concrete requirement for a club, rather it should be a preference for a club to have one. It feels like another unnecessary step. Lastly, when a student applies for a position, their acceptance should not be staked upon the number of clubs or organizations in which they are involved, too; instead, they should be required to list the measurable changes that they have made within those organizations.

 To the student body — if you genuinely want to be deeply involved, don’t let us stop you. Having so many passions is a gift. However, if you apply for a position of leadership, think about whether you are applying out of genuine interest or out of a desire to be appealing on a college application. In fact, holding one-hundred different leadership positions is not what colleges like to see, according to the Princeton Review: “While you … shouldn’t go out and join every single club your school offers, you should participate in a few well-chosen extracurricular activities,” it says. “Colleges like to see breadth but not at the expense of depth.”

 If you go on to assume an impactful role in the future, consider how you are going to positively influence your peers, and make plans to execute these changes. Perform your role like you’re being graded on it. And, in the wise words of Ron Swanson of “Parks and Recreation,” “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”