Passion Project Examples
If any of the links below don’t work, please email me to let me know!
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You honestly can’t be anything other than a Nerd if this is your big hobby, and colleges love Nerds!
Students who Found “Impossible” Proof for a 2,000-Year-Old Math Rule
Six prototypes. MRI brain flowers for the pattern (her actual brain). Zoomed-in apple skin cells for the yellow background. A really impressive combination of art and science. You could do something a fifth as complicated, and it would still be amazing.
Creating Your Own Tiny Chemistry Lab
I’ll let you discover the story from the short video. This teen conducted a massive experiment and wrote a book about her results. This would be a very powerful thing to add to your college resume.
Kid Built a Digital Computer Inside the Game Terraria
Elle Cordova Poetry
This guy is really dedicated to soccer balls. He has a whole channel making them. This is another one, and it’s very rooted in math and curiosity.
This video shows how his random and seemingly useless skill became useful in select ways. There are other videos like this.
Getting Your Local Playground Adjusted to Accommodate Younger Kids
This girl was 11 years old when she submitted this plan to help accommodate her younger sister.
Viossa - a Living Language / New Conlang
This may seem crazy, but you could very well do something like this. It would take guts, and you’d be talking to a lot of people online (so be safe). But, it’s doable. You could also just create this within your own high school, or inside of just the high schools in your county, or just within your church youth group. Possibilities abound. This would help you show creativity, genuine innovation, collaboration, dedication, and being a part of a unique community.
Strandbeest - Wind Sculpture Creatures
Digital Art “Brushes” that Paint Books on Bookshelves
Macro Photography of Slime Molds
Maya Lin: Designer of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial
Maya Lin designed the Memorial when she was in college. Her professor thought it was too boring and simplistic, and gave her a B on the project. And yet, she won the contest and her work stands in DC today. Don’t let a grade define you.
16 year old kid did this one!
Chandelier that Casts a Forest of Shadows on Your Walls
In case you want to make art but don’t like painting!
Detailed Paper Art and more Paper Sculptures and even more Paper Art Potential
Sculptures with Grown Crystals
Interesting Painting Techniques
You could scroll through the icons of her videos, or click through a few videos to see more of her process.
Big Collection of Funny Comics
Scientists Are Training AI Robots to Write Graffiti
Really Cool Portfolio of Bjorn Karmann
Lots of exciting things in this one. Check out each project. Obviously this guy is an adult, but YOU could have totally done the Occlusion Grotesque one. So, don’t think these aren’t approachable. This is also a great resource for thinking about what your final portfolio website for college should look like!
Cool Puppets from Scrap Materials
3D Printing Plants That Do Things including this crazy Bamboo Plant
3D Printed Desktop Skeeball or Basketball
It really can just be as simple as this.
On the other hand…it can be crazy complicated like this.
This woman is talking about how financially lucrative it can be to find a niche and run with it. If you’re thinking of going into business, economics, or entrepreneurship, you should consider how you can make a business out of something that starts out small like these butter guys! But even if you don’t sell it, making different kinds of butter like this could be a great passion project.
Something like this is totally doable for a teen in high school. Yes, it already exists. But there are tons of ways you could make it your own!
You could have a lot of fun with AI and architecture. It’s not great at it yet; it still looks a bit abnormal and wonky. But, if you’re interested in architecture, it’s a great way to get crazy inspiration for something completely new!
Textile Sculptures of the Ocean Floor
Boxing Glove Sculptures from Textiles
Some art is just pretty to look at. Other art has a message. If you want to make art, start paying attention to the messages people have for their art. If you can put forth a powerful message with your art, it will bode well for your college strategy.
3D Printed Chess Pieces and a Mushroom Chessboard
Like chess? Consider making something innovative like these!
It would be really difficult to create a language in under 3 years of consistent and heavy effort. But, if you want to go for something like this, go for it!
Just Passion, Not Projects
This woman finds 19th century schoolbooks and talks about them with enough detail and interest that it’s worth reading. You could mimic some of her points or style in any college essay.
This guy talks about linguistics, and has favorite words in various languages, like this word in ASL. You could mimic that passion and the uniqueness of having such a nuanced favorite in your own essay.