Interesting – DD and I were having a discussion this morning that is tangential to this. She is an avid history buff and has been involved in a revolutionary war reenactment group for several years. As a part of this she has engaged in some significant independent research on a topic that has not been typically explored or presented by many reenactors. She is working on a children's or young adult story/book based on this research and has been invited to speak at local museums and schools about the topic. She really wants to be an advocate for special needs kids and I said to her just this morning that if she is successful in publishing the story that she will have even more credibility in her advocacy than just her successful 2E journey. i mean who wouldn't respect a teenager who has done these things?
I think that being a published author and public speaker as a teenager would look like a pretty significant "package" for college application. But this is not the purpose or the intent. It's just something that she is genuinely passionate about doing.
Maybe that's the point and something that admissions officers are probably pretty savvy about. When kids put on a show of being involved in activities they are not really passionate about I doubt it will carry as much weight as the real deal. When a kid has a serious long-term interest in something it is likely to resonate better with an admission's committee just as Cricket pointed out above...
