From sports to the Fine Arts, Schuyler Central High School offers many after school activities and other events that take place during the summer. Anyone will tell you that it’s good to participate in a club, but is the time investment really worth it? School activities like Band, Football, One Act, Wrestling, and many others eat up hours of a student’s free time each week. Practices can happen after school for hours every single day. Some activities like Band and Speech have classes that take place during the school day. All this time could be spent doing homework or studying for a test. Extracurricular activities also cause a lot of stress. The pressure to do well in competitions and carry your weight in a team can overwhelm students who are also juggling everything else in their lives. Students who go out for sports also run the risk of injury. A broken leg can not only keep an athlete from playing, but the rest of their daily activities will also become harder. Is all this risk really worth it? Extra activities just seem like more work than the reward is worth. 

It’s true that extracurricular activities can be overwhelming and harm the rest of your life, but there are also benefits. High school teams, sports or otherwise, create a close knit bond between students. A football player who’s been playing on the team for years will be an inspiration for the new freshmen. A softball team will celebrate their victories and mourn their losses together. Participating in a non scholastic activity can give you a reliable group to depend on. The most important thing you will ever have in life is your relationships. You’ll cherish those memories for the rest of your life. Extracurricular activities bring people with similar interests together. 

Extracurricular activities can also build character and discipline. Motivation for dribbling a little faster on the court and writing an essay hits a little differently. Life won’t always be about grades. Your punctuality for showing up at practice on time might earn you a job interview later. Your patience and willingness to work might win you a promotion. In a team or group, you don’t just learn the sport, instrument, or the memorization of  your lines. These tasks teach important lessons for life. 

Extracurricular activities have many benefits and many drawbacks. As a junior, this is my advice. Choose one or two if their seasons don’t collide, and give it your all. Too many activities will quickly overwhelm you and unbalance the rest of your life. Everyone needs time to themselves. Avoiding activities all together is more harmful than you’d think. It’s a good way to build healthy relationships and put your mind on something other than grades. In my opinion, extracurricular activities can never do any harm unless you overload yourself. Everyone should find something to enjoy, and then enjoy it with a friend. The best experiences of high school are rarely spent in math class. Sorry, Mr. Carter.