Ready WA Storyteller Helîn updated this blog post, which initially featured national and international opportunities, with a whole new section about opportunities in Washington! We’ve added the new section about Washington up top, for easy access, but you can still access the other opportunities further down in the article.

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Hi Everyone! My name is Helîn. I am a 2023-24 Ready WA Storyteller, and I wanted to share my thoughts and experience about the value of extracurricular activities.

When I started high school during the COVID-19 pandemic, I realized one of my biggest joys is applying things that I learn in the classroom to other things that I do, and this is when I started researching and trying to find different opportunities. I always had a love of community service, especially as an immigrant with my goal of giving back to my people. I also learned over time that I enjoy technical and mathematical work and love learning in those fields. With limited opportunities, especially as a freshman and sophomore, I decided to find opportunities myself by spending countless hours researching for different opportunities. To make it easier for other students, I wanted to share the different experiences or programs I have done and give my insight.

As a disclaimer, please do not compare yourself to me, over the years I figured out my interests and what I wanted to accomplish over the course of high school. Your goals and interests will probably not be the same as mine and that means you will do what works for you! 

Each experience has a title, ‘tags,’ which summarize the topic (if you know you do not want to do anything technical, skip ones with technical tags), eligibility, and some other information. If you find something interesting feel free to research it and check out the deadlines!

Washington State

As a part two to my first article about opportunities for high school students internationally/nationally, which can be found here, I wanted to create one for students in Washington state! 

Team Read

Tags: Paid Job, Community Service

Team Read is a non-profit organization that gives teenagers some of their first paid jobs through tutoring elementary school students working to close the educational opportunity gaps through reading comprehension.

Eligibility:

• 8th grade and older
• In one of the school districts Team Read works at (this list is always expanding, make sure to check their website!)

When Team Read arrived at my middle school, I took this chance to give back and joined the program without hesitation. My goal was clear: help at least one student discover the joy of reading. With the supportive site and management team at Team Read, I found myself even more compelled to take leadership opportunities and find ways to create a bigger impact. Team Read is a wonderful way to start your first job experience where the staff are still a bit more lenient because they recognize you are a middle or high school student, but you are still held to a standard and have a chance to make an effect in the world.

Young Executives of Color

Tags: Yearlong, business, community building 

Young Executives of Color (YEOC) is a nine-month program hosted by the University of Washington Foster School of Business. Through this program you learn about many different aspects of business and receive support during and prior to your college application season. The 2024 application due date is May 31st, 2024!

Eligibility:

• Washington State Resident
• High school freshman, sophomores, and juniors are allowed to apply
• Have an interest in learning about business

Wanting to learn more about different fields I was interested in, I came across YEOC. Applying as a freshman, I was very unsure if I would get in because the majority of the cohort was made up of juniors and seniors, but I was admitted! Outside of the amazing programming at YEOC, the biggest thing I got out of YEOC was the people I met! When I was a sophomore and junior at YEOC I met so many wonderful people who I have still stayed in touch with and some of them who helped me during my college application season. Do keep in mind this program mainly helps you prepare for University of Washington, so you will still need to do your own research when applying to other colleges.

Young Women Leadership Summit

Tags: Summer program, dorming experience, business, community building

With a similar goal as YEOC, Young Women Leadership Summit (YWLS) is a program made to bring together and support female-identifying high school seniors while introducing students to the world of business.

Eligibility:

• Rising High School Senior
• Woman or non binary identifying
• Be available for the duration of the program (four days in the summer specified when applications open in February)

I chose to participate in YWLS because I wanted to build a community with other women and experience being a college student. During the entirety of the program, we were paired with a random roommate (I am still friends with my roommate to this day!), stayed overnight in dorms, ate at current student dining halls, and spent time in the Foster School of Business lecture halls. We also went to different company sites and met current high level employees, specifically other women, in the field of business.

Southeast Seattle Education Coalition: Youth Participatory Grantmaking Project

The Youth Participatory Grantmaking Project (YPGM) offered through Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) is an opportunity for students to take initiative and go through the process of being grantors to help support existing nonprofits.

Tags: Paid job, community service, changemakers

Eligibility:

• Seattle Residents
• Between 15-21 years of age
• Students of Color

Through my previous connections with SESEC, I learned about this program and applied! Getting to be a part of the first ever YPGM cohort, we got to help shape how to run sessions and make the most of our time together. With a 10k grant and how we wanted to distribute it being up to us, this was an experience that is not often given to students of color that was so meaningful!

Ready Washington Student Storytellers

Ready Washington is a coalition of organizations working to provide all students in Washington state with resources and knowledge they need to graduate from high school and make plans for post graduation.

Tags: Yearlong, paid job, community service, changemakers

Eligibility:

• Washington students: high school juniors and seniors; first-years in post-HS educations
• Learn more by emailing info@readywa.org 

Through my connections at Team Read I learned about this amazing opportunity and knew I wanted to apply! I had always wanted to figure out ways to provide other students with resources during high school, but never had the connections to know my words would get somewhere. With Ready Washington being a super strong and reputable organization, I was able to work alongside an amazing cohort and advisor to publish information and stories that I wish I knew as a high school freshman!

National

Bank of America Student Leaders

Tags: Community Service, National

The Bank of America Student Leaders program is a selective program with around a 6% acceptance rate (300 acceptees out of 5,000+ applicants nationwide). During the program you have a fully paid 8-week internship at a local non-profit and a week long paid trip to the Student Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. 

Eligibility:

• Current junior or senior in high school
• Live in Bank of America markets (check website for list)
• Authorized to work in the US without sponsorship until September 2024

My interest in creating my own nonprofit organization in the future led me to applying for this program. The time spent during the internship was very valuable, but the Student Leaders Summit was the most amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I could not have known the amount of connections and relationships I would make during that summit and the network we have created across the United States.

Fly In Programs at Universities

Tags: Educational, Free

Fly In program requirements differ per university, but if you have some top schools you would like to check out or some schools you are unsure about, getting a chance to fly in and see the school culture and environment is a great idea!

Eligibility: Depend on the schools requirements

I did the Johns Hopkins University Senior Visit Day. I met other students who I am still in contact with, created connections with amazing professors, and got to meet the people who work in the admission process to get a sense of what environment or community is at Johns Hopkins University, if I fit into it, and most importantly, this helped me write the supplementary essays for the college from my own unique perspective.

International

Create Your Own Adventure

Tags: All, Passion Projects

Sometimes your interests and passions can come together in ways that there are not organizations for, in which case you can create your own impact! It can range from creating a social media account to share information, a club at your high school, or even a national nonprofit depending on your goals and resources.

Eligibility: Everyone!

The lack of representation of people who looked like me and my interest in education made me immensely passionate about Middle Eastern North African studies and mentorship for younger students in STEAM (STEM + Art). Realizing there were no opportunities bringing together those specific niches, I decided to create an organization called Middle Eastern North African Exchange (MENA-X | www.mena-x.org). The impact MENA-X has made in the South Seattle community has grown exponentially because it brought together other high school students with similar interests or the willingness to create change.

Research

Tags: Technical, Passion Projects

Research is what you make of it! Once you figure out some things you are interested in or want to learn more about, search for professors or Ph.D. students who are working on research in similar fields.

When asking to support a research project, make sure to write an impactful email specific to that project (don’t make an obviously copy-paste email) and add a resume if you have one. You might not always receive a response and that is ok, you can contact multiple researchers, labs, or professors if needed.

Eligibility: Everyone!

I found research to be really enjoyable and something I want to continue in college! Once I figured out my interest in and willingness to learn more about data analysis and mathematics, I found some professors connected to very interesting research programs, contacted them, and chose a project. So, I started my first opportunity at the University of Washington Electrical and Computer Engineering Department BioRobotics Lab, leading me to co-author an international workshop paper and start work on a research paper! This opportunity introduced me to scientific programming and so much more.

FIRST Robotics

Tags: Technical, International Competitions

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) has multiple different levels of competitions for all age ranges, giving you the opportunity to learn about the fields you are interested in generally including programming, mechanical, electrical, and business/marketing.

Eligibility:

• Elementary School Student
  • FIRST Lego League (FLL)
• Middle and High School Student
  • FIRST Technical Challenge (FTC)
• High School Student
  • FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC)
• After High School
  • Check with teams in your area to become a mentor

I got involved with FIRST during the end of freshman year by joining my local FRC team. FRC is slightly more advanced than most courses, so it took me a while to get acquainted. Since we have 8-10 weeks to design, build, and program a robot there is a big time commitment, but during that time you are able to learn and experience a lot of amazing things. I was also the operator (person who controlled the robot’s scoring mechanisms) for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, which also helped me expand my skills in making quick decisions, working and collaborating with a team (the drive team), and very strong communication skills to relay what went on on the field and how we could improve.

Fundraisers

Tags: Community Service, International

Fundraising is a project which, if thoroughly planned, can be an amazing way to help people in your area or even those around the world

Eligibility: Everyone can do this! You do not even need to be in high school!

I had always wanted to support my community back in Türkiye, but I was not sure how to create that impact. I realized that instead of waiting for someone to give me the secret formula, I could research this by myself. After finding out about Bridge to Turkiye in the middle of 9th grade, I realized I really loved the goals and vision. This set me on a course of continuous volunteering over the years. With the help of BTF, I have been able to provide support to a school in my community with limited educational resources for students and meet some amazing people.

Find Helin Taskesen on LinkedIn.