Is Well-Rounded Just Another Term for Average?

We teachers often see middle and high school students who are overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with a schedule of activities that would make a Fortune 500 CEO proud. All in the name of being well-rounded.

The logic makes sense initially. College is coming up. We want to build up that resume. We want the university to know our kids are hard workers. We want college to know they have diverse backgrounds and interests.

But, here's where the logic breaks down.

If everyone is well-rounded...doesn't that make everyone average?

If all kids are loading up on as many activities as possible, how is a college to figure out who they want to accept?

Don't get me wrong, though. If a student actually enjoys a 7-hour school day, 2 hours of homework, being on three sports teams, Russian math, dance class, and gymnastics all at the same time, then by all means, seize the day!

But, what we often see is exhaustion and overwhelm. This doesn't look fun.

What's more, I don't believe this will be an effective approach for getting into college much longer.

Recently, a friend of a student received a rejection letter from Princeton explaining there were enough qualified applicants to fill four full freshman classes.

Once again. If everyone is doing the things that everyone does to get into college under the guise of becoming well-rounded, then who is the ideal candidate?

I would like to propose two possibilities for an alternate route.

First - let's help kids find their passions. 

I strongly suspect that colleges will eventually stop asking for the world on a resume and start asking, "What is your passion?" Or, "What change do you want to make in the world?"

So, let's help them find what they love and have them work on it now, before college.

After all, when someone designs a breakthrough technology that changes the world, do we care how many sports they were in or how they fared in English class? (I'm not suggesting to let studies slip, but a B is not cause for a national emergency all the same...).

I will illustrate with an example. Let's say you are business school and you are looking at a massive pool of applicants.

1,000 applications are your standard, well-rounded student. A laundry list of extracurriculars, most of which have nothing to do with business, and straight A's in all subjects.

But here's one applicant who started his own lawn care business as a junior in high school, already makes $40,000 a year, and has a following of tens of thousands of subscribers on YouTube.

Who would you choose to attend your business school?

Second, let's release this idea of well-rounded back into the wild. Instead, let's try to help our kids become well-balanced.

A well-balanced student prioritizes the following activities:

1. Adequate sleep - high schoolers still need 8-10 hours of sleep per night.

2. Daily leisure time - not to be confused with laziness, this is time to recharge, do something fun, or explore.

3. Music studies - this is just about absent in school, and we have the research saying it's essential - so it has a place in the well-balanced student curriculum.

4. Other activities that peak the student's interest and curiosity, but only what can be done in the remaining time after you consider the needs of numbers 1-3. 

These ideas don't gel so well with the status quo. They certainly don't jive with rigorous middle and high school workloads. And there's no doubt, the fear of being left behind is real.

But, doesn't the idea of a well-balanced student who is rested, happy, and finds his passion in high school sound nice?

Does an alternative to over-scheduled, overwhelmed and always stressed sound attractive?

We think so. Not only do we think so, but we believe this presents a new possibility that could change the world.

But, what do you think? Please let us know in the comments below.