Activities points do not reflect true student involvement

The time of year when students quantify and calculate their so-called involvement in the school has come and passed. The last Activity Point Verification Sheet has been collected, and students will again go on their merry way without giving very much thought as to why, year after year, they sit down and add up the assigned point values of their chosen extracurriculars.

Is it really for an Monta Vista Activity Award at the end of senior year? And if it is, what does that award represent? Five levels of achievement, apparently: The Picador Award (500-999 points), The Banderillero Award (1000-1499 points), The Novillero Award (1500-1999 points), The Matador Award (2000-2499 points), and the Matador Maestro Award (2500+ points).

It begs the question, what does it take to be a Matador Maestro? The simple answer is join campus groups and do your due diligence with Activities Point Verification sheets. But when maximizing your way to a Matador Maestro, keep in mind that Yearbook is worth more than Journalism, Dance Show more than Diversity Assembly, and Robotics more than Speech and Debate. If you are confused by the distinctions and the relative point values, worry not. A good portion of the student body is too.

For the most part, who is to say that one activity is less ‘involved’ than another. The distinctions between activities, if they even exist, are subjective at best—assigned point values even more so. It is almost saddening to to see the entirety of a year’s worth of work boiled down to a number, especially when that number is compared against that of another supposedly more ‘important’ activity.

A piece of plastic award at the end of high school does not determine the extent of a student’s involvement during his four years. If the student has done everything he can to make the most of his high school and he ends up with the 2500 points necessary for a Matador Maestro Award, then good for him. But even if he is still a few points shy of 2500, he has lost nothing except a title from his high school experience.