Most people start their high school career without knowing where they fit in at school, social circles and even the world. We believe extracurricular activities and groups bridge that gap, allowing for someone to find their own passions, voice and person.
Extracurriculars allow for relationships to form easier, due to the presence of a shared interest, conversations have fuel to start and continue. With a common passion there is always a starter for interaction.
Students who are nervous can use that connector to launch off to spark a new friendship. These bonds can lead to family-esque connection between members of a group, like when football players refer to their teammates as “brothers.”
Under the sports umbrella, there are long grueling practices, hours dedicated on and off the field and the eventual games or competitions to display the shared effort of an athlete and their team contributions. These established bonds formed under pressure allow for these environments to bring together more often than separation.
Sports-related and other group-related situations are poise for disagreements and conflict. These occurrences are important in finding one’s own discipline and making challenging decisions are among them.
While being surrounded by others allows for social development, it also allows for self discovery. Being exposed to new concepts, systems and topics allows for someone to find their own personal preferences.
We believe finding your own preferences are key to figuring out your own future, in education, interests and relationships. It is important someone discovers their own person.
When we see someone trying to find their own voice, it is important that the opportunities to form it are in a healthy, inviting space. As a negative encounter while trying to branch out might result in even worse social anxiety, pressure and disconnect.
Getting this experience and growth earlier is for the better. Social skills like managing conflict, interacting with strangers and social etiquette are taught in these environments.
The development of these skills helps prepare students for future situations that might be socially challenging, like job interviews, application trick questions and more.
Peer-to-peer relationships are not the only connections that can be formed in extracurricular, the shared connection leads to a stronger bond between the sponsoring teacher and student.
To those students, they are more than an educator as they are now mentors, that student now has a reliable educational support system. When the time comes for letters of recommendation, that student has a guaranteed assistant.
We see that the relationship between student and mentor last longer than even four-years of-year education provides, into college and afterwards, that mentor has their back.
Young scholars who struggle with motivation and stay invested in school can benefit as well. With something to look forward to and hold passion for, there is a motivating reason to be at school.
We could not personally recommend becoming a part of a group or extracurricular any more, if a student is just getting by day-by-day, a change in schedule or a spark of difference would be the shock needed to jumpstart an appreciation for school.
All it takes is one push, whether self driven or by an outside force, to help a student find a home at school. Consider joining one of our 47 clubs and activities, or one of our 24 athletic groups.
