High school clubs can cover a wide range of interests, from sports to video games to debate.
Even though high schools conduct club activities differently, all clubs offer the same benefits to students who seek to participate, as clubs can be tools to enhance your academic experience, meet people with similar interests, or strengthen your university application (more on all this in a bit!).
High school clubs make our school experience a lot more enjoyable because as students, we are pushed to study subjects or courses that do not necessarily fit our interests (almost nobody is into organic chemistry as an interest, for example), so clubs can be relief, giving us the opportunity to explore and strengthen our interests in our own academic environment that is our school. You could have been encouraged by a certain teacher or classmate to join a club, or you may be exploring your options on your own. Either way, the benefits of joining high school clubs are endless - they are a total win-win for you as a student, so here are 4 benefits that are tied to joining a club.
Table of Contents:
1. Helps you find an interest/hobby, or strengthen one.
Everyone has interests and hobbies that are tied to specific activities such as fitness or politics, and school clubs are usually the only opportunity you have to meet people who share your interests, so it would be quite a shame if you miss out on such a rare opportunity. Moreover, many students may find themselves on the hunt for new interests and hobbies, and clubs can give you the opportunity to explore a new interest that keeps you occupied outside of your classes.
2. Strengthens your University application
During my junior year of high school, I joined my school’s Model United Nations club headed by my economics teacher. I became a strong figure in the club as I was taken to different cities to participate in conferences, and given my higher rate of participation, I managed to win a few awards. This became one of the highlights of my university application as I was able to outline 2 years of experience in political debate and political participation - and I later got accepted to a pre-law bachelor’s economics program at a well-established American university with this application. This is probably the most powerful benefit of joining high school clubs.
Being a participant in a club can be a strong point to highlight in your application, as you can share your experience and what you have learned from it, giving you more content to add to your application. You may notice that many Ivy League applicants have at least a few club participation extracurriculars outlined in their application, and most of them are leaders of their clubs or founders of them.
This proves just how valuable high school club participation can be as an extracurricular to
apply to university. Be careful though, not to do what is called “activity bombing” which is participating in a whole bunch of club activities with no meaning. Make sure to participate in at least one club where you can achieve great things and become a known figure for it. (Remember the quote “A man who chases two rabbits catches neither”!).
3. Prevents Academic Burn-out
As mentioned before, club participation can be a relief from all the academic pressures of high school. As we study for hours every day for topics and subjects that we have virtually no
personal interest in, we may often feel burnt out, where everything does not seem enjoyable
any more, and we feel like just lying down and sleeping forever. Club participation can offer an exit from burn-outs, where we find ourselves working on things we are interested in, and with like-minded people - think of high school clubs as exactly that, your exit from burn-outs. You may get back to club activities every time you feel that you are pressured too much from high school work - make sure to utilize clubs as a good tool that makes you feel better.
4. Help you Meet People & Make New Friends!
Many people enter a new year of high school without any friends, having to make friends upon arriving and settling in the school. One easy way to make friends in high school is through clubs, where you are able to find like-minded students whom you can make friends with very quickly.
So, if you are entering your new year of high school and want to make friends, go ahead and
enroll at a club you are interested in. Chances are you will make friends on your first day at the club!
That's all folks,
Malek
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