Being well-rounded for college applications is of course one of the top reasons students join school organizations and clubs. However, there are a lot more benefits to be gained from extracurricular activities than extra bullet points on the resumé. Extracurriculars can boost college success as well!
With such an extensive selection of groups to choose from, how do you pick? You can find everything from sports to more academically-inclined societies to areas of the fine arts. One area of the fine arts that can be particularly good for students is music. It is difficult to find someone who does not enjoy and appreciate music on at least some level, so joining a music-related organization should be a no-brainer for many students who are looking for that perfect extracurricular.
Your mainstream options in this field are band, orchestra, and choir – each of them have great things to offer that can really give a student the support they need in a busy academic schedule. Often, students will fear that a time-consuming extracurricular activity will aggrandize their workload and increase stress levels, but the typical result is quite the opposite. In fact, most students end up learning to prioritize a lot better when they have highly demanding extracurriculars in their schedule.
So why choose music? What music offers is much more detail-oriented programs that also allow students the opportunity to learn a whole new skill. Learning to play music is a challenge that lets students exercise their brain in new ways. While some may feel this would be another burden of material to learn on top of an already hectic homework load, it can actually be a soothing relief for the brain to give the student a healthy break from schoolwork but still keep his or her mind working. Many people find learning, playing, and listening to music to be therapeutic, so being so engaged in it on a regular basis could give a student great emotional stability as well. You may also want to check out these tips on how to make the most of college extracurriculars.
One major element of these music-related activities that gets overlooked is the team aspect of them. An important thing to remember is that sports are not the only endeavor available for students looking to be part of a team effort. Being a part of a musical ensemble creates an incredibly special sense of belonging that all students are comfortably welcomed into. It takes every singer and every instrumentalist to produce the big sound that ultimately emerges from the group. No one is ever on the bench, so to speak.
Additionally, music is never a one-size-fits-all opportunity. There are several different parts of the ensemble that you can fit into. For instance, the choir needs a plethora of different voices for different ranges and keys, rather than a hundred people singing the same part. Discovering if you are a soprano, a tenor, or something else can be an interesting new fact about yourself that you never knew before. You may surprise yourself as to what you can do with that voice of yours!
When it comes to band and orchestra, of course, you have the many various instruments to choose from. No one will force you to play anything you don’t want to, so the infinite possibilities of what instrument you might take on can be quite exciting. If you are absolutely clueless as to what these instruments are all about, ask the respective music teacher – they should be happy to guide you through the selection process. Make sure you really take some time to investigate and make your final decision about what instrument you will play, because you will hopefully be investing some serious time in it. If you’re lucky, it could end up being your new passion.
The strong possibility of that new passion is another reason to consider music as an extracurricular. In addition to taking on the activity as a whole, you will find a new individual responsibility that could significantly increase your involvement and give you a personal hobby to enjoy. Students who invest in such an idea will typically be more encouraged to bring that creative and critical thinking to school every day and hopefully apply it more often to their classes.
Never underestimate the power of having something to be excited about and how it can positively affect your daily experiences – in this case, the educational experience. Joining a musical ensemble creates a comfort zone for students to express their creativity and let it blossom in a place where their peers are having the exact same goals. Plus, events like extra practices, concerts, and competitions provide that exciting incentive to keep going. With this at the end of a school day, a student has many reasons to stay bright and interested in their academic world. If anything, the activity allows for an intriguing new area of learning, which is always a good thing. You may want to check out these tips on how to choose your extracurricular activities if you aren't sure if music is the best extracurricular for you.
