What extracurricular activities should you be involved with in high school?

Why Get Involved in Extracurricular Activities?

Before diving into the topic, let’s shed light on why it is so important to engage yourself with extracurricular activities during your high school years:

Personality development: Extracurriculars will help you to discover yourself and also develop passions and talents. Whether it’s in arts, sports, or academics, you learn more about yourself and what you enjoy.

Skill building: Physical or mental activity outside the classroom will make you think outside the box. It will also foster skills such as teamwork, leadership, time management, and problem-solving.

Networking: Joining different clubs according to your preferred activity will encourage you to meet new people, build friendships, and develop a sense of community.

College applications: Colleges from all across the world require all-rounder students. Being involved with various activities will make you stand out among hundreds of students.

Stress relief: These activities can create an escape for students to take a break from academic pressures and also serve as a great way of self-relief.

Academic clubs and competitions

One of the most rewarding extracurricular activities that you can get yourself involved in is academic clubs and competitions. Academic clubs discuss and practice based on the academy as well as other activities. It also includes a competitive instinct in yourself to participate in competitive events to challenge your capabilities. To begin with, joining the Science Olympiad team can be a fantastic choice if you have a passion for science and engineering. It will favor you both academically and personally. It offers an experience in various scientific disciplines that allows you to compete at regional and national levels, enhancing your problem-solving skills and teamwork abilities. Moreover, joining the debate team will surely improve your life as this activity changes your personality, communication skills, expressions, and opinions. It will also offer you an excellent platform for honing your critical thinking and public speaking skills. Participating in debates benefits you in many ways, such as learning to construct arguments, present your ideas clearly, and think on your feet, all of which are invaluable skills for any career path. Joining the writing club demonstrates your personal interest in learning, enhances your writing skills, and develops your career path. Besides these, there are web designing and coding clubs where you can find people with similar interests, practice your existing skills, or inherit valuable long-term beneficial skills like coding and designing. The robotics club educates us about robotics and creates a passion for science and technology. To encourage your academic knowledge and enhance the competitive spirit, the quiz club is a way to start. Apart from these, there are numerous clubs according to your hobby or passion, such as cooking, photography, books, pottery, dance, and video games clubs. High school clubs help you to nurture your innate talents and are also immensely beneficial for your adulthood, widening your future opportunities.

Arts and Creative Activities

From the very beginning of your childhood, if you had a creative streak, arts and creative activities can be incredibly fulfilling. The art club is a whole package for you to explore where you can enjoy painting, drawing, or sculpting. Particularly, arts and crafts are an important part of personality development, a sense of expression, boosting your cognitive skills, improving self-expression and self-esteem, enhancing your creativity and imagination, teaching you problem-solving skills, helping to improve your mental health along with providing a space to develop your artistic talents, work on collaborative projects, and even exhibit your work in school art shows. If you are interested in performance, joining the Drama or Theater Club can be a transformative experience. There you can enhance your artistic skills, graceful expressions, body and hand movements, and gestures. Acting in school plays or musicals helps you build confidence, understand different perspectives, and work closely with a team. Additionally, participating in the school band, choir, or orchestra allows you to develop your musical skills, perform in front of audiences, and connect with other students who share your passion for music.

Sports and Physical Activities

If you’re good at sports, this club is a great opportunity to practice your existing skills and also build you up for national or global level competition. Participating in high school athletics can provide students with lifelong skills, lessons, relationships, and benefits, as stated by Hannah Buchholz. Joining a team sport like basketball, soccer, or volleyball not only keeps you physically active but also teaches you the importance of teamwork and group work. It also builds long-lasting friendships and loyalty and a sense of belonging. You can also prefer your kind of activity. It can be either individual sports, consider track, swimming, or tennis. These sports allow you to set personal goals, track your progress, and experience the satisfaction of personal achievement. Besides this, if you have an interest in cheerleading or dance, it is also a unique blend of athleticism and creativity, providing opportunities to perform at school events and competitions while promoting school spirit. Playing sports helps some students stay focused and perform better in the classroom. There are two main aspects to how playing a sport influences academic performance. The first is straightforward: there are minimum grade requirements to participate in school sports. The second has to do with brain performance. For some students, learning game strategies and memorizing plays helps with logic in the classroom. For others, academic improvement is sparked by the positive influence of a coach or mentor. Positive peer influence and healthy classroom competition can result in higher academic achievement (Buchholz, H).

Leadership and Service

Teamwork is essential not only in an academic environment but also in the outer environment. High school is the place where most of the iconic leadership skills are born. Every school team requires a strong team leader to lead the entire team and create a lasting positive impact. For students interested in leadership and making a difference, getting involved in student government or service organizations is a great choice. Participating for student council positions or joining the student government allows you to play an active role in school decisions and initiatives and it also helps you develop leadership and organizational skills. Student leadership encompasses learning to take responsibility for themselves, which includes developing independence academically and personally. It also builds a caring nature, like taking care of their individual workspace, classroom and campus, helping each other through the learning process, having a positive mindset, developing a voice, and being helpful to others who are struggling. Students having mature leadership skills naturally gain more independence in both their social and academic lives. Leadership involves responsibility in various sectors. Besides, these activities can be incredibly fulfilling and look impressive on college applications, showing a commitment to leadership and service.

Volunteering

Volunteering is the backbone of securing any society. Joining in volunteering will offer you numerous benefits that extend far beyond the immediate act of giving back. Moreover, helping others and contributing to the community will give you a positive mindset and self-satisfaction. It fosters a sense of empathy, social responsibility, and responsibility as a human towards nature, animals, and people. Participating in volunteering will improve your mental health and well-being, practicing social good, building community and expanding network, determining career goals, enhancing resume, and refining valuable soft skills. According to an article by Volunteering Hawkes Bay for Students, volunteering has been shown to help reduce and counteract the adverse effects of stress, anger, and anxiety, leading to depression or substance abuse troubles. Some key mood-boosting opportunities inherent to community service include engaging in social interactions, helping and uplifting others, making a positive impact, and becoming a part of something bigger than yourself. In addition, volunteering enhances college applications by demonstrating commitment, initiative, and the ability to balance diverse responsibilities. Lastly, volunteering can be a source of personal fulfillment, building confidence, and a sense of accomplishment through making a tangible positive impact on the lives of others.

In conclusion, we can say extracurricular activities are a vital part of the high school experience. They offer you opportunities not only for personal growth but also skill development and social connections. By choosing activities that align with your interests and goals, you can make the most of your high school years, setting the stage for future success and also build a community and long-lasting relationships with people holding similar kinds of interest. Dive in, explore, and find your passion. Your high school journey will be all the richer for it and will also widen your future possible opportunities, securing a seat for your dream university. So don’t forget to thrive in extracurricular activities for fruitful and better future results.