by Michelle Aranovsky and Abbie Carson
Editor-in-Chief and News Editor
      High school provides the perfect time and place for students to find their niches. With the plethora of clubs, electives, and extracurricular activities available to all students on campus, high school fosters the ideal environment for discovering passions, interests, and hobbies prior to going off to college.  However, as college admissions have become more and more cut throat, many students have been spreading themselves too thin as they try to take on as many of these activities as possible in order to impress admissions officers, rather than focusing on the few that are most important to them.
 
      Lopsidedness is the idea of pursuing one area of interest and perfecting it. Rather than involving oneself in “a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” a lopsided person recognizes his or her strengths and focuses on improving them, instead of dabbling in many unrelated hobbies and never reaching a level of high proficiency in any of them. Lopsidedness serves as a direct opposite to the commonly heard phrase, “well-roundedness.” While pursuing many diverse interests may seem like a good idea, at the same time, spreading oneself too thin often leads to several areas of mediocrity.

     Lately, colleges have been encouraging students to lose the mind set that admission officers are looking for the combination mathlete-quarterback-violinist-volunteer to accept to their universities. Instead, they are now championing depth over breadth, meaning that students should choose one or two areas of focus and develop their interests and skills passionately. This can take many different forms: someone interested in art could take art classes, participate in a local art show, sell their work, or start a club, while someone with skills in science could take AP science classes, compete in science fairs and math contests, or perform research. The main idea is that a science focus is not better than an art focus; as long as students develop their skills in a particular area and show dedication and growth, they are likely to impress admissions officers.   
                                                   
     The cliché that one must be a well-rounded individual in order to be successful still remains untrue outside of a classroom environment. Thus, it is often the people with unique passions who prevail over others. After high school and college, people are thrust into the real world where being well-rounded can hinder efforts to be successful in any given career. Although people sometimes fantasize about different careers, ultimately that person will have to choose which career path he or she will pursue. High school and college are supposed to prepare people not only to make this decision, but also to equip them with the necessary skills to prosper in their chosen career. It is not humanly possible for one person to be an astronaut, a farmer, and a fireman all at the same time because each of these fields requires in-depth knowledge and training. 

      It is because of this principle that there are specialists in today’s work force. In fact, if there were not specialists, communities, countries, and economies would not function properly. In general, lopsided people shape a community because if no one had a true passion in life or if everyone was the same, life would be monotonous. 

      As such, the staff of El Gato urges LGHS students to figure out what interests them and develop their passions fully. Instead of dabbling, find something that sparks your curiosity and truly explore it. While we’re not advocating one-dimensionalism, we want to encourage students to  develop a deep interest in a particular area. Don’t waste your time on fleeting interests to “impress” admissions officers. Your life is yours, so do what you want with it.