With the increasing pressure of getting good grades and the overall task of completing academics, ever wonder why our schools and parents prioritize extracurricular activities so much?
According to the US Census Bureau, a survey of school-aged children showed that 42% of these children were involved in sports, 30% were engaged in lessons, 28% were involved in clubs and a significant 9% of an over-enthusiastic bunch was involved in all three of these extracurricular activities.
These figures highlight and answer our question as to why extracurriculars are so essential apart from academics.
5 Essential Reasons Why Extracurricular Activities Are Great
However, here are five amazing reasons why extracurricular activities are totally worth your time and energy if you are still confused about investing in your academic resources.
- Exploring hobbies, passions, and interests
Extracurricular activities are separate from your academics. It is why you have the power to choose whatever you are passionate about. You can explore your interests and hobbies like art, pottery, gardening, and any other activity. You are not bound like in academics to study and pass your exam with flying colors. Your motives are purely driven by passion. You succeed and thrive to do it because you choose to and you might even find a newer interest that you can take up as your career in the future.
- Contributing to higher self-esteem
Acing studies is really tremendous, but doing well in extracurricular is an automatic self-esteem booster. Choosing what you love to do because you do it well is different. But doing something well because love to do it and you were passionate about is a groundbreaker. Not only will it help you get higher self-esteem and self-satisfaction, but it is a highly motivating, contributing factor to having a better life ahead.
- Better opportunities for socializing
Extracurricular activities are a great way to socialize and make new friends. Not only do you get to have a social circle, but those friends share your interests with you too. You get to talk about your interests, share thoughts, and create a community based on what you all do best and create a connection over your mutual passion.
- Fun apart from studies
As mentioned earlier, extracurricular activities are fun apart from studies. It is a healthy and constructive way of spending time doing something you like and are actually passionate about. It helps you take time out for yourself whenever you are stressed about studies and other responsibilities of your life.
- A valuable addition to your resume
Extracurricular activities add value to your resume. Nowadays, transferable skills that are learned from your outside hobbies and passions can be more relevant than academic achievements, not to mention making you stand out from the crowd of applications they have. Adding any kind of additional activities can only help you when it comes to your resume.
All in all, extracurricular activities are fun and engaging! Remember, when posed with the idea of being able to integrate hobbies and passions with real life, you should always take the opportunity and remember these 5 things, but don’t forget to put your academics first.
Bio: Claudia Jeffrey is currently working as a Content Strategist at Crowd Writer and Premium Jackets, excellent platform for dissertation editing service UK. She herself is heavily involved in sports and was an active participant in other extracurricular activities during her high school years. You can read her blogs at WordCountJet as well.
