By: Amit Kothiyal
Submitted: 2010-01-27 22:16:11 | Word Count: 633
If you want to apply for scholarships, go into Medical studies or get a highly sought-after part time job after leaving school; it is always a good idea to get some extracurricular activities under your belt during schooldays. On the downside though, good extracurricular activities often take a large amount of time, and might distract you from your studies. Therefore, it is important to practice time management.
In this article, we'll take a brief look at what extracurricular activities you can do in high school that would help you with things like scholarships, entry into Medical College or while searching for a job later on.
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Worthwhile Extracurricular Activities in High School
• Sports
As a high school student, the best activity to be involved in for most people is to get into some sort of sporting activities. Sports are an excellent to list on your resume, as it communicates several things to your interviewers:
• You can work in a team (most sports are team-based)
• You are competitive (that's a great trait to demonstrate for things like scholarships and jobs)
• You are a well-rounded individual (that is to say, you're not just into computer games or Facebook)
The important thing here is to choose a sport that you truly enjoy. Do more than just play the sport - enter competitions, tournaments etc. This gives you more to talk about in an interview, other than merely saying "Oh I play soccer every weekend". The point is to separate yourself from the rest - if you stand out, you will have a greater chance of success.
• School related positions
High school students can also opt for school-related events or position. If you're the School Captain, that's an excellent portfolio. But even if you are not, try to be a School Prefect or an SRC representative. These positions convey that you possess leadership skills - a trait that is very favourably looked upon by interviewers for scholarships, entry into medicine or jobs.
Besides these, volunteer for as many things as you can at school which allows you to take responsibility for something. For example, if you're good with computers, try to volunteer to help manage the school's computer networks. If you have a knack for audio equipment, volunteer to help set up the audio equipment for the school hall for each event (e.g. dances, Talent Quests, general assembly's etc).
• Achievements
Extremely competitive activities such as joining the Maths, Chemistry, Physics or Biology Olympiads reflects very well on your abilities in these subject areas, as well as your ability to manage your time effectively. For things like academic scholarships and jobs that require related skills, such activities are worthwhile, should there arise an opportunity.
• One-off activities
You can also consider participating in one-off volunteering / fund-raising events, such as things like "40-hour famine" or those like "Duke of Edinburgh" awards. Keep in mind that these are often of lower significance to your resume than on-going activities, or achievements mentioned above. Only do these if you really enjoy them.
During the HSC
You should be more careful about how you spend your time in year 12th. Generally, it is a good idea to pause most of your extracurricular activities once year 12th starts (i.e. end of term 3 of year 11), since HSC is most important at this time. If you can intelligently manage time with your management skills (which is also very important), you can easily choose to continue doing all activities related to school duty.
Author Resource:-
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