Scholarship committees look for candidates who actively participate in a variety of extracurricular activities, including school clubs and sports. When you just go to school and do well in class, you are meeting a bare minimum requirement. Students who go the extra mile by adding demanding sports and school programs to their after-school schedules are more impressive to someone who is evaluating a scholarship application.
In addition to listing the groups you were a part of while in school, also mention all of the special positions that you held, such as a captain of a team or a committee head. Describe exceptionally amazing accomplishments in detail. For instance, if you single-handedly planned and put on a school event, describe every element of that process and how it felt to accomplish this feat. This is a perfect piece for your scholarship essay.
In addition to extracurricular activities at school, you will impress a scholarship committee if you were actively involved in community service initiatives. This includes events such as soup kitchens, canned food drives, and programs where you were charged with cleaning up the community.
Sometimes all it takes is an amazing story of triumph to impress a committee member enough to grant you the scholarship. If you had any type of challenge during your younger years, such as a situation at home, or tough times in school, but you still managed to get excellent grades and go on to be accepted into college, tell this story on your scholarship essay.
If you ran for and were elected to office when you were in school, that will be impressive to the person who is evaluating your application. It shows the scholarship committee that you are an ambitious young person who isn't afraid of a challenge. This could be a position for school president, or even a smaller role on action committees where you were charged with working with the faculty of your school.