Youth Incorporated Magazine

It’s boring to be constantly surrounded by books, even in school/college. There is no doubt about it. Educational institutions realize this, which is why they introduce extracurricular activities in the yearly syllabus. In spite of this, there are parents who still believe that the only way to their child’s excellence is through textbooks. I won’t say it is false, but yes, textbooks are not the only way to reach excellence. In fact, students’ participation in extracurricular activities has positively proven to improve their academic performance.

Gone are the days when educational institutions were purely about studying and gaining knowledge inside four walls of a classroom. Knowledge has exceeded such limits and reached in places we never thought it would reside. 

Educationists and teachers from across the world stress the importance of extracurricular activities because they strongly believe that it is significant to one’s overall development. Encouraging students to engage and participate in extracurricular activities ensures the development of crucial life skills and qualities like self-confidence, multi-tasking, fast-thinking, sharp memory, personality development, etc. 

Schools and colleges today are expanding their variety of extracurricular activities beyond the common debate, art, dance and elocution competitions. Quizzes, sports, drama and plays, music, marching band, educational trips, etc are also conducted by the schools now. In addition to this, many inter-school/college festivals are also conducted to boost engagement and participation of students.  

This highly benefits students in honing skills like networking, communication, speaking, listening analyzing, and volunteering, etc. These extracurricular activities help students in becoming organized and also independent; qualities that help throughout life. 

These extracurricular activities not just help in students’ personality development, but further help them in building their careers. For instance, a student holding accolades in sports can get admission in a well-reputed college, even if his grades don’t meet the college’s required grade limit. His/her merit in sports gives an additional benefit. Similarly, working as a head in the marketing department of a fest or leading a welfare campaign can help students land internships which further help in securing jobs. How then can extracurricular activities come in the way of an individual’s development? 

Moreover, with options flooding in the career world, students must explore as many opportunities as they can. It might surprise you but earlier where school going students used to watch cartoon shows after returning from school, are now working as freelancers for companies and earning their own pocket money.  This level of engagement in extracurricular activities is new and also highly rewarding. 

For all the students who are willing to participate in activities, now is your time to learn new things and participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible, along with studying. Make sure you strike a perfect balance between your academics and extracurriculars by dedicating sufficient time to both. Wasting time sitting at home isn’t going to benefit you. You must step out and dive into the pool of activities that are available for you in abundance.