Extracurriculars are ongoing activities that you do outside of school which could vary from community service, sports, clubs, leadership activities, and more. They are great ways to improve your resume, social skills, and opportunities. When applying, college admission offices usually look for what type of extracurricular activities you have done. It shows your strength and interest and could possibly help for your future career.
“I think that extracurriculars should be mandatory because it lets kids participate outside of their classes and get their minds off school. Kids who do this also benefit a lot for their character and overall find their interest in things,” said junior Natalie Perez.
Some of the best extracurriculars are leadership positions, part-time jobs, and community service. Taking on a leadership role is one of the most important things when it comes to applications. Leadership roles strengthen communication, problem solving skills, and more. These are great ways to show that someone is an independent person who can work out things on their own and does not need to be guided. They are self-motivated to manage and complete their own activities.
When it comes to part-time jobs, it helps show that the student is good with time management with any other extracurriculars or school activities. Even if your job is not related to what you are studying for, it still shows positive attributes about you. According to Walden University nearly 30 percent of high school students are employed. Working can teach students more about budgeting and make them more responsible later on in life.
Community service can vary from cleaning, translating, tutoring and more. This is a great way to show your communication skills and ability to help others. Communication is one of the most important skills that helps you connect and develop other skills like group problem-solving skills, collaboration, leadership and social abilities.
Although extracurricular activities are great ways to improve certain skills and make your resumes stand out, they are not necessary. It also may be difficult for some students to be able to complete extracurricular activities depending on their situations, like homework, chores, jobs, and more. This could cause an unnecessary load of stress on students. Students spend 6-7 hours in school, 28 percent have chores to do at home and take care of family, and according to a study by The Washington Post in 2020, over 50,000 individuals reported doing homework for an average of 2.7 hours on weekdays.
Overall, extracurricular activities are great ways to gain skills, socialize, have opportunities, make connections, and more. They are also easy ways to meet new people and create new memories.
