Personal Projects and Their Timeline

Today we’ll be talking about personal projects and their timelines! Personal projects really can have any shape or form — whether that be volunteering at a hospital or the library, tutoring/teaching others a skill, making arts and crafts for the local community, creating donation drives — there are a few key ideas to keep in mind!

Facets of a personal project to consider

• What specifically do you hope to accomplish? This will mean different things for different projects - for example, if you are volunteering in a hospital, you might hope to learn as much as you can in a specific field/get hands on experience! On the other hand, if you are volunteering at the library, you might focus on gaining as many people skills as possible.
  

  • Having both a personal and community oriented objective for your project is important - so that not only are you learning crucial skills and going through important experiences, you can describe your impact on your community!

  • Consider who your audience is - is it students/little kids? Other community members? This can help you when thinking about how to specifically advertise and plan your personal project!

• How does this project demonstrate your interest in a specific field? Colleges will like to see concentrated, specific demonstrated interest in something you are interested in, rather than someone who dabbles a bit in everything.

  • For example, if you are interested in business, you might look to launch a small business or run a workshop that teaches students about the components of a business. You might not be drawn to helping out at a hospital!

Timeline Tips

1. Consider what kind of support your project will need. Whether this means software (such as Zoom) or support from adults (parents, teachers as advisors etc.), consider who you will need to reach out to!
   

   • Is there anyone at the hospital/library etc. to contact if you want to start your personal project? Any advertising you need to do? Research and reach out!
     

   • Reaching out to these parties ahead of time can be really helpful!

2. Plan! What kind of workshop do you plan to run? How many times a week will you go to volunteer?
   

   • Communicate with the adults involved to let them know your plans (and to ensure accountability!)

3. Show up - half the time, going to the classes or volunteering is the hardest part - but it’s also the most essential! Immerse yourself in the learning process and talk to everyone you can.
   

   • Learn more about the job/experience from others who have gone through the same thing!
     

4. Reflect - what have you learned? How have you impacted the community? Enjoy the process and document how you’ve grown!

Personal projects are often what sets students apart in the college application process. They can also be a lot of fun and learning. RRA is here to help with planning and executing your personal projects. Some of our students started their own non-profits and also worked on building apps using their computer science knowledge.

See you next week for tips on the do’s and don’t’s of college applications!