As I’m setting down my pencil to take a study break, I decide to open TikTok.The first post I see is about passion projects.
‘Passion projects you can do to get into an Ivy League!’ the first slide reads.
The following slides were examples of generic project ideas: code an integral solver, build an AI homework assistant, read research papers on a topic and compile them into your own research paper. It went on and on.
I open the comment section to find users discussing how some of the examples are really easy, providing more examples and talking about how there are many YouTube tutorials or GitHub links to help people and encouraging them to do these projects.
After seeing that, I wondered if these could really be called passion projects. Where is the passion in them? Doing something one doesn’t even love to do, following a YouTube tutorial for college applications, surely can’t be referred to as a passion project.
However, the unfortunate truth is that many students do passion projects – not because they love what they’re doing – but only for college applications. If I search “passion projects” on Google, the first link that pops up is titled “30 Passion Project Ideas College Admissions Love.” Nowadays, passion projects are all about feeding college admissions officers when they should be about passions.
Don’t get me wrong, passion projects themselves are very cool. If the idea of a passion project was never tainted by the hunger to put things on college applications perhaps they could be cooler. Regardless, there are still passion projects filled with passion.
To really create a passion project, with emphasis on the “passion”, then one has to find a hobby or talent that they are genuinely passionate about. Then they must translate that passion or talent into a project that can solve a problem, and not just a problem which they see thousands of other people solving. Using creativity and love with a little bit of inspiration, it is definitely possible to create a unique passion project.
One passion project I have been involved with is environmental awareness nonprofit organization, NewNormalX. Shruti Agrawal, a UCLA freshman started the project in middle school, following through with her passion for the environment and protecting it. Starting off as a project, it grew, especially by the time she graduated. She has now gotten many people involved with her nonprofit and has seeked people out from many different kinds of skill sets, collaborated with many other companies, released merchandise and even held internships.
Of course, people can add their passion projects on college applications, but they can’t simply create the project solely to put it on those applications. When creating a passion project, students must not get caught up in the heat of wanting to stand out in college applications. Instead, they should really figure out what they love to do and do something meaningful with their interests.
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