The Extra Lesson by Alexis

The Extra Lesson by Alexis - October 2015 Scholarship Essay

Looking at a stack of resumes from high school students, it is hard for a single student to stand out. They have all done the same things – volunteered at their church, received acceptable grades, and received a character award at some point during school. A classroom is able to make a group of acceptable students, but extracurricular activities make them well-rounded individuals that stand out from the crowd.

Instead of having a teacher lecturing for an hour, an extracurricular activity teaches students with experiences. Having a student experience it firsthand allows them to truly understand the importance of the lesson. For example, teachers constantly clamor about the importance of working well in teams. But until students experience the failure of working together in a team, they will not truly understand. There are several team extracurricular activities that students can participate in. For example, team sports. If a student does not know their own teammates, the team will not be successful; they must be able to work together to succeed. Also, it is a more valuable lesson with a team sport than in the classroom because of the competitive nature of high school students. Without extracurricular activities, there would be some students that would miss the value of working together as a team.

With working as a team, extracurricular activities teach students to recognize their own weaknesses. Whether the student is working in an extracurricular art or sport, they must learn how to work around or strength their weaknesses. For example, if a student cannot throw very hard and is a baseball player, then the student should avoid the outfield and pitching. Another option would be to work on their arm strength. Either way, the student is recognizing their weakness and is not willing to let it stop them. If the student is participating in an art based extracurricular activity, they know what kind of art they are best at. With any activity, students get a chance to face their weaknesses and either they learn to strength them or work around them. In a classroom, weaknesses are normally intellectual and there are few ways to truly work on strengthening them. Extracurricular activities allow students to recognize their weaknesses, but not allow it to stop them.

Making extracurricular activities a requirement improves social skills as well. While the classroom teaches students how to respect authority, extracurricular activities teach students how to respect peers. Since many activities are team dependent, students must confront each other about their issues. Or if a coach or advisor is treating them unfairly, they must be able to handle the situation like an adult. Unlike school, extracurricular activities rely solely on their communication; in school, the student can run to a guidance counselor or principal if something is going wrong.

While a classroom may teach students intelligence, extracurricular activities show students passion and time management. There are few students that feel truly passionate about school, but there are many who feel passionate about the activities they participate in. For example, the dance team has a season that lasts all year long; it is not possible to participate without having a passion for it. Finding their passion also helps students find what they want to do with their life. To be able to follow their passion and be what the student wants, most students need a college degree. And to do that, students must learn to be smart about dividing their time between their extracurricular activities and schoolwork. Sports normally practice everyday after school and have games at least once a week. This forces students to learn how to divide their time between extracurricular activities, school, and everyday activities. Without extracurricular activities, the students may graduate without ever truly finding their passion and never learning how to manage their time efficiently.

On the other hand, students should not be forced to do an extracurricular activity they do not enjoy. There are endless options when it comes to extracurricular activities that a student will be able to find something or at least try something new. All of these options will be very expensive and the school should not have to fund these extracurricular activities. The school does not have to supply any extra extracurricular activities than they already supply if they are available in the community.

Although some students would not enjoy the extracurricular requirement, it would be beneficial to them in the end. The extracurricular activities make students more than just a student; it makes them a well-rounded individual. Rather than blending in with every other resume in the stack, this requirement would allow the students to stick out from the stack.