3 Reasons to Partake in Extracurricular Activities

Extracurriculars are a fun way to get involved inside and outside of school while also helping to build and strengthen your resume and gain experience. Extracurriculars are any activities you can get involved with which do not involve compensation. For example, school clubs, volunteering, or lessons outside of school. In this blog post, we are going to explore several reasons as to why you should consider partaking in extracurricular activities and how it can benefit you!

1. Developing lifelong skills: You might wonder why extracurricular activities (ECs) can be beneficial in helping you develop life skills but there are numerous reasons behind this. For example, if the EC you are participating in involves volunteering at a food bank, you can learn important life skills such as working in a team in order to pack food bags in a timely and efficient manner, build empathy, or learn to work under pressure. Or say, you are part of your school’s basketball team with an upcoming tournament. You know you will not be in class so you have to find a way to keep up with your school work, while making time for practice and showing up for your team. These are just a few examples, but hopefully it will show you how different types of involvement can help build certain skills that are  important to develop early on. They will pay off in the long run with regard to your education, career, and personal relationships. 

1. Networking: Another benefit of ECs is that you will be able to meet and connect with new people! As an example, if you are part of a club at your school, oftentimes you will have tabling events where you will entail socialising with others. Moreover, as part of your position you might have certain responsibilities that include reaching out to other clubs, executives etc. For example, a lot of times clubs will host an individual to come in for an event, but to do this your club will have to network, reach out to different people, and work with others within or outside of the club in order to set up the event. All of these things will help build your communication skills and importantly help build your network. 

1. College Applications: Joining ECs will not only help you develop important life skills, but it will also help you when it comes to enhancing your applications for college. This is because it allows you to become a well-rounded individual, showing you can balance school work alongside your other responsibilities. Remember it is quality over quantity, so rather than partaking in a plethora of ECs, focus on getting involved with the ones you enjoy and will bring your passion to. As you do these EC activities, keep a journal with you and make note of any experience you found was particularly valuable to you or taught you something important. You can expand upon it in your college applications and show how a certain experience taught you something important or even affected the trajectory of your life. 

These are just a few reasons as to why you should consider joining EC but there are so many more. Overall, a lot of personal growth and experiences can be gained by engaging in EC activities, so consider thinking about the things you like doing and which ECs are relevant to you. Find ways in which you can contribute to ECs that you will enjoy!