Extra-Curricular Activities: Your Time to Shine

There are endless examples of after-school activities. Some students partake in sports, other art societies, and others participate in Career and Technical Student Organizations. All activities have their associated stereotypes, but what do they actually commonly contribute to participants’ futures? Many students often join clubs in high school for something special to add to their resumes. How do you know which clubs are best to join for your career path? When bringing the decision-making process, consider what you hope to gain from the experience.

Joining clubs and other extracurricular activities can help gain leadership skills, professional skills, help with timer management, and much more. Gaining leadership can be crucial when you plan to have a job with many leadership aspects. The more you experience interactions with people and gain more overall social interaction confidence, the more able you are to communicate. Leaders and team members need to know how to communicate and how to work together, and that comes to a lot easier to accomplish along with practice. More opportunities to practice public speaking which can be crucial for interviewing skills and some careers. Show your commitment to one club to show loyalty. Work up through one organization, showing your true work ethic. Another thing to consider is the quality of the club. Quality is far more important than quantity, so choosing an organization with a good reputation, and great teaching skills can take you a long way.

Extracurriculars also help you explore your options. Trying to decide what you want your major to be can be difficult, but when you have experienced some fields it is easier to know what you want to do. Within your interactions during extracurriculars, see how you interact with people. Also not what experiences happen to interest you most. Then, keep in mind what your key interests are, as well as what you have learned from experience, and let that help guide you towards your matching career path.

Colleges often take into account applicants' club involvement throughout high school, and grad school applicants from college. Applicant reviewers want to know what potential strengths and experiences you may have gained from your participation. A common misconception is that colleges only care about if you hold a leadership position, but this is not true. They want to see how you manage while being involved in different activities if you helped run any projects, or volunteer often. Showing involvement also shows you have interactions, and time with advisors and people in power. They like to see you are able to work alongside others and build a strong sense of self-esteem. It shows that you are able to work towards a specific goal and overcome conflicts. Colleges like to see well-rounded applicants that have more than just intelligence to bring to the table. Explaining the lessons learned from your activities can show what makes you most valuable.

Each experience given from extracurriculars can help future develop your accomplishments and goals. You may be using skills gained from career and technical education systems to gain jobs or interviews. Or maybe you are exploring an interest that can help find a passion to work towards. Developing skills, and exploring is crucial during the high school and college experience. Take advantage of clubs, activities, and social events that will help further your own development.