Extracurricular Activities Are a Big Deal
Upon entering high school, you should not be surprised if every administrator, teacher, and upperclassman tells you to participate in at least one extracurricular activity. Why is everyone doing it? What’s so great about joining a club or doing a sport anyway? After a long day at school, wouldn’t it just be more fun to go home and take a nap? Let me answer a few of these questions for you, and you can decide for yourself if you’d rather bum around after school every day.
You can make new friends.
By participating in extracurricular activities, you can meet people that you would not normally encounter otherwise. Since a lot of clubs and sports are open to all students, you will be able to bond with people who are in a different year than you or who take a different level of classes. By meeting all these different people, who can expand or diversify your group of friends, thus learning more about others and having a larger support circle. Trust me, during high school, you’ll want to know that you have friends you can turn to.
You can explore a particular interest.
Whether you’re passionate about basketball, drama, or writing, there probably is an activity for you. If there’s not, get permission to start one! You will be surprised at how many people share a common interest with you. What’s better than being able to bond over something that gets you really excited? Your advisor or peers might even be able to share tips with for improving your game or help you discover something you never knew about your specific passion.
You can develop social and leadership skills.
By interacting with all these different people (students and staff alike), you can really improve your social skills, which will enable you to more easily make friends in the future or communicate your needs to authority figures. Many organizations have leadership roles, such as President, Treasurer, etc. If you manage to attain one of those positions, you can learn a lot about how to lead a group of people and be a positive role model for the other members of your club. It can also give you the chance to make any changes that you think would improve the overall experience for everyone.
They look good on a resume.
A lot of high school students have goals of going to college afterward. When applying to schools, they really look for well-rounded students. If you show that you have a lot of interests by being part of various organizations, especially if you have a leadership role, you will be a much better candidate than someone of equal academic standing without any extracurricular activities. The experiences you gain from these clubs or sports can also give you interesting talking points if you interview with a school or even an employer (if you plan on getting a part-time job while your in high school).
As you can see, there are many benefits of participating in something outside of class. I know my high school career would not be nearly as fun if I hadn’t been part of so many different clubs and organizations. I also held a few leadership positions, which definitely gave me some cool opportunities. I strongly advise that you find at least one activity that suits you – you never know what’s out there unless you look!
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