Extracurricular Activities for General Students
By Alex Fancy
Extracurricular activities can make an important difference in the life of any student, as they offer a break from the routine of study, contribute to a balanced lifestyle, and allow students to develop interests, talents, and viewpoints that they would otherwise be unable to pursue. Or that they might not even have recognized in themselves!
Extracurricular activities can have a positive impact on a career, even on the choice of career. A former student, now a criminal lawyer, told me that she often takes a few minutes before entering a courtroom to think about her extracurricular work in the theatre. She says that the courtroom is, in many respects, another theatre.
Theatre allows students to take risks in a safe space, overcome shyness and anxiety, refine communication skills, solve problems, and work collaboratively as a member of a team. I am always pleased to receive requests for recommendations on behalf of students with whom I have worked in the theatre, as it’s easy to answer all the typical questions. Is this person a team player? Can he or she take risks? And so on!
Extracurriculars for Chemistry Students
By Glen Loppnow
Extracurricular activities don’t make a huge amount of difference in chemistry. However, they make a huge difference in your life! Learning doesn’t only occur in the classroom and you can’t turn it on and off like a faucet. Learning is something humans do continuously. The lessons of leadership, group dynamics, oral and written presentation skills, salesmanship, problem-solving, inquiry, task and time management, citizenship and play that you get from extracurricular activities will make you a better, more balanced person. These lessons will also serve you well in any career path.
Having said that, curiosity-based extracurricular activities will do you well in chemistry. Living a curious life will train your mind with a philosophy and a discipline that will serve you well in your future.
Extracurriculars for Education Students
By Rick Schwier
If you want to become a teacher, you can use extracurricular activities to demonstrate your commitment and pick up some useful experience. And they do make a difference, especially when you apply for admission to a College of Education and face an interview panel. They also make a difference in the kinds of opportunities you can get when you are placed in a teaching internship. Basically, your extracurricular interests may set you apart from other applicants when you’re looking for your first job.
What kinds of things are useful? Anything is helpful, but activities that emphasize helping others in your community will stand out. Here are a few random examples we have seen:
- Volunteering to help seniors learn how to send emails to their grandkids.
- Helping teach swimming lessons and aquafit classes at the local YWCA or YMCA.
- Distributing bundles of food at the local food bank.
- Working at a daycare.
- Helping adults learn to read.
- Volunteering to help new immigrants get acquainted with your city.
- Teaching Sunday School.
- Assisting with school and community plays and concerts.
In short, do things that broaden your perspective and connect you to your community. Expand your interests. Try new things. A teacher who writes poetry and bakes a killer cheesecake but also loves ballet and Tai Quan Dao equally is just the kind of person our profession needs.
Extracurriculars for Engineering Students
By Ron Britton
Extracurricular activities are of considerable value for those considering Engineering. Sports provide experience in the importance of teamwork, and modern Engineering is done in teams. Technical activities, like Robot Games or Formula 1 in the Schools, provide experience in taking an idea through to a physical end product and demonstrating how that product works, in competition. The university experience and life after university is a social environment. Any activity that is based on interacting with people and dealing with the compromises this sort of interaction requires will be of value. Keep your options open. You might just find something that becomes a life-long opportunity.
Extracurriculars for English Students
By Lisa Dickson
As a teacher in the English Department of a small university, I strongly recommend extracurricular activities to my students, especially those activities that bring students together to work collaboratively on projects of all kinds. There are a great many benefits to extracurricular activities. They help integrate students into a support network, either of their peers or with members of the broader community; they build confidence and people skills; provide much-needed stress-relief; give students the opportunity to test out and use their learning in a range of contexts beyond the classroom; and they help to build curriculum vitae that will help students in their applications for scholarships, degree programs, and employment.
Extracurricular activities are a key element in the development of the “whole learner,” someone who is engaged with the world.
Even activities that seem far removed from classroom learning are part of the big picture of engagement and participation that can make the undergraduate experience richer and more rewarding, and the students more open and able to contribute to the world around them when they graduate.
A dance club or student governing body, a student literary anthology editorial board or a charity fund-raising initiative, intermural basketball or discipline-specific student association—all offer students the opportunity to learn how to set goals, to negotiate with their peers, to solve problems, to work collectively or individually to achieve an end (even if that end is “only” to have fun or to get away from the books to regenerate some brainpower).
An example: Recently, students at UNBC participated in the “Spread the Net” Campaign, raising thousands of dollars to buy mosquito nets to help prevent malaria in Africa.
Our small school raised more funds than all other participating universities. We also won a visit from CBC’s Rick Mercer and a feature presentation on “The Rick Mercer Report.” The point of this anecdote is not to boost UNBC (although, I have to say, Go UNBC!), but to illustrate the capacity of student will and engagement to bring people together for a cause greater than themselves.
The students planned and executed the fund-drive entirely on their own. The success was entirely theirs. And the students who participated in this initiative—and others like it—gained confidence and valuable skills. But, more than that, they helped to define and mobilize for themselves and by themselves a supportive community that was there to cheer them on and to contribute where they were needed. The great celebration on the day of Rick Mercer’s visit was a tribute to the power of student community.
Learning is an active pursuit. Extracurricular activities generate energy. By their very nature, they demonstrate the value of participation over isolation.
Being a student is stressful. Students have to juggle many demands on their time and energy. Extracurricular activities can take up a good deal of this time and can put extra stress on the academic aspect of a student’s life. But carefully selected activities built into a student’s schedule in a reasonable way can relieve stress and enhance academic performance. Regularly scheduled activities are easiest to build into a busy week and can help students to manage their time. Even solitary extracurricular activities—drawing, reading for fun, practicing a musical instrument, writing a blog—can be worked into and protected by a schedule. If students think of their extracurricular activities as not so much “extra” but rather as part of an overall program of wellness, they can integrate them more easily.
So, I would ask students to think about what they want to get out of an activity. What will it contribute to their overall well-being? We all have different needs and priorities. Do you want to get fit? Make social connections? Get experience in your chosen field? Connect with the business or creative communities beyond the classroom? Test out your leadership skills? Learn a new skill? Do something so radically different from your classroom experience that it’s like a mini-vacation? If you can answer that question, you will be on the way to picking an extracurricular activity that will complement your academic pursuits. That said, don’t be afraid to experiment with a range of activities. You never know what surprises might be waiting for you in the math peer-support room or the Bollywood dance club.
Extracurriculars for French Students
By Dana Paramskas
High School extracurricular activities do not, academically speaking, affect acceptance into French Studies generally. However, certain extracurricular activities can greatly enhance language learning, in terms of increased fluency. And exceptional fluency will improve grades, as well as students’ confidence in their language skills.
Some activities: travel to a francophone area, work experience in a francophone area, volunteering as a teacher’s assistant in French classes at the K-Grade 12 level, volunteering with regional/national institutions which deal with multi-lingual clients, and volunteering with international charitable institutions which deal with francophone regions.
Extracurriculars for Geography Students
By Peter Ashmore and Jeff Hopkins
I would encourage extracurricular activities that enrich yourself, not pad your resume. You’ll meet like-minded people and may develop life-long friendships. If the activities are related to your studies then they will also serve to give you some insight into your academic courses and the ‘real world’ connections. Look for something in which you can directly apply your geographical interests and knowledge.
In Geography, any extracurricular that gives you a chance to see another part of the world, experience another culture or be involved in your local community and environment will pay off in your enrichment of understanding of Geography and the world. At the same time, extracurricular activities of any sort will help your personal development and the time-management, communication and leadership skills valued by all employers.
Extracurriculars for Geology Students
By Alan Morgan
- Do extracurricular activities make a difference in Geology?
- Not really, but a broad interest in science would be handy. It would be useful to demonstrate that you can work independently. A course (or courses) in first aid would be useful if you plan on doing a lot of fieldwork.
- What extracurricular activities would you recommend to high school students planning to pursue Geology?
- Ability to take good observations; photography and sketching skills; and language(s). Read broadly and follow daily news events. It goes without saying that solid computing skills are really useful.
Extracurriculars for Law Students
By Kim Brooks
The very best lawyers and jurists are people who take their commitment to their communities, however, defined, seriously. So, participation in a particular extracurricular activity is less important than an interest in and willingness to give back. Legal education is a great privilege. It’s critically important that our students are the kinds of people who are willing to make a difference in their daily lives.
Extracurriculars for Math Students
By Andy Liu
Extracurricular activities in mathematics are very important. Along with language, these are the two basic subjects, and many things should be covered in class. To expand one’s horizon, it is essential to participate in mathematics competitions, mathematics clubs and camps, and pursue independent investigations. People tend to see only the utilitarian side of mathematics, but to appreciate the romantic side of the subject, one must build up a passion for it. Reading material written by the great Martin Gardner will be the first step.
Extracurriculars for Medical Students
By Dr Jim Silcox
Most Admissions Committees for medical programs are looking for the classical “well-rounded” student, so extracurricular activities do not go unnoticed. Over and above the basics, students who go the extra mile and participate in activities that are altruistic in nature leave an enduring mark that will continue to help others long after the particular student has left the scene.
Generally, activities which are more than observational and which involve some elements of leadership are what you should be looking for if you are trying to lay the planks for a good Med School application. Bottom line: always go for what you are truly interested in. You will be more productive and happier for it and your enthusiasm, when you talk about your experiences at admissions interviews, will come shining through.
Extracurriculars for Music Students
By Elizabeth Wells
Extracurriculars make a big difference. Playing in an ensemble, managing an ensemble, or composing or arranging for your high school music ensemble or church music group is great experience. Teaching privately to young children is also highly valued, and volunteering with children or at-risk groups with music therapy-type activities is great experience.
Extracurriculars for Physics Students
By Alan Slavin
Extracurricular activities that could have an impact on a student’s success in physics at the undergraduate level are those that would develop a sense of how the physical world works, including the ability to handle the equipment. For example, students who know how to repair their own bikes are more likely to appreciate the concepts of force, rotation, torque and friction, and be able to manipulate lab equipment well. Being well organized and capable of follow-through also contributes enormously to success in any university courses, so involvement in organizations that develop these skills can be very useful.
Extracurricular activities can also have a big impact on applications to graduate schools for an MSc or PhD. One of the criteria for obtaining scholarships at this level is evidence of leadership ability, so students who have demonstrated such ability (AND have excellent grades) are more likely to be successful. Lastly, such evidence includes serving in an elected position with clubs and volunteering to mentor other students.
