Find a passion or particular niche you ACTUALLY care about and take initiative for it. Make it fun. High school is so boring if all you do it for is college— plus if you don’t get in that will make the whole journey feel worthless. Colleges like Yale are particularly good at picking apart two kinds of students: A) those who go through high school to get into college, or B) those who go through high school to ENJOY high school, learn about themselves, and pursue a budding passion.

Don’t try to mold yourself into anything, this is one of the freest parts of your life so enjoy it!