Camp counselor vs soccer vs Volunteer?

This is for my common application (Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences) and I am debating what to write because throughout high school, i was a part of three main activities: soccer (player, coach and referee), volunteering at the homeless shelter, and being a camp counselor.

I was thinking about picking one activity, either counselor or homeless but then I got the idea of writing all about "how I realized I could be a leader" i led my campers and I led my sister to love going to the homeless shelter.

Should I choose one or combine all?

Thanks for your help!

Writing an essay about one topic is difficult enough for most people, and you will find that you will have a better ability to write your essay if you stuck to just one of the topics. You can certainly wait until some of the others chime in, but I am almost certain that the others will probably say the same thing.

Good luck!

Mark

I know what Mark means, for sure. People often mess up their essays by trying to tell everything instead of powerfully expounding one great truth, like a focused thrust of a spear.

However, I wicked like your idea of coming up with a concept that involves the other activities. "Being a leader" does not work as an activity for this essay, though. You probably already figured that out.

Try this: Write about being a camp counselor, and write about the similarities between that and being a soccer ref. Then, note some similarities between being a counselor and being a volunteer at that shelter... part of being a leader to the kids is setting a good example.

So you absolutely can mention all three (and I am impressed that you did these great things! All three are excellent. And I know how hard it is to be a soccer ref, OMG I once had to blow the whistle to end an under-12 game just as a kid kicked the ball to score the goal that would break a 0-0 tie! Can you imagine how angry parents got? It is not like basketball where if the ball is in the air when the buzzer sounds the basket still counts; in soccer when the whistle blows that is it, even if the ball is a second away from the goal! But I digress...), because you can "look for the similarities" in your essay.

"When seeking wisdom, look for the similarities..." --- James Mitose