Month: September 2017
Why School Service Projects Are A Great Idea
You already know that you have to pay a lot of attention to academics when in high school, and you’d have been encouraged to join extracurricular programs too. A service project is a volunteer effort focused on addressing specific issue in your community. Signing up for high school service projects is an excellent idea – read on to learn more.
Here’s why we recommend all students get involved in school service projects.
Know The Real World
Between social media and the bubble that is your own school, you may not have an understanding of the problems people face out in the world. A community project brings you face-to-face with real people dealing with real issues and helps you examine yourself, your values and what’s really important.
Whether you’re helping the environment, or young kids, or the elderly or the ill, you learn first hand about the challenges communities have to deal with and you also learn how they can be solved. These kinds of experiences may even help you in deciding your future career!
Develop People Skills
Connecting to the community through a school service project brings you in touch with many different people, from those who organize and run these services, to those who’re helped by the services and others like you who are helping deliver the services. Networking with professionals and making new friends
This benefits you in a couple of ways. First, you develop compassion and empathy, traits that will make you a kinder, more caring person as you go through life. Second, you learn interpersonal skills when dealing with a variety of people, not just the ones you see at school. And, you have a chance to develop leadership skills as you work with a team to help solve problems.
Prep For College and Career
We’ve mentioned this before – showing an interest in helping others will make a positive impression on college admissions officers. Colleges are keen on recruiting students who care about other people, whether it’s in their local communities, or at a national or even global level. Involvement in service projects, especially if you do it for an extended period of time, definitely shows that you truly care.
Your experience in school service projects will make a different when you apply for jobs too. Employers favor candidates who’ve shown a consistent interest in being involved in helping the community. They know that it shows good teamwork and leadership skills. So volunteering now helps your future efforts!
Feel Good!
This is the best part. Helping others can actually help you. It makes you feel good to know that you’ve made a positive difference to someone and their life is a little better because of you!
Most of the service projects are set up in such a way that you can immediately see the results of your work: feeding someone in a soup kitchen, helping little kids learn to read, cleaning up a park etc. So unlike long term efforts (like going through four years of high school for example!), you can see tangible results of your actions pretty quickly. This gives you a feeling of accomplishment and success pretty much every time you volunteer!
Service projects are not only another choice for an extracurricular activity, they can also better prepare you for college, career and life in general. And to top it off, they give you a chance to do good and feel good – which gives you a great reason to join one, don’t you agree?
30 Sep, 2017
Make Time For Extracurricular Activities!
Soon after the school year gets into full swing, the extracurricular activities and the drive to sign up for them comes to the forefront. Your high school and local community likely offers a variety of non-academic, off-the-curriculum opportunities for activities that you can get involved with. Of course, you are not required to participate in any, but believe us, you should!
Here are the top 5 reasons why you should have at least one or two extracurricular activities, even if you feel you’re swamped with schoolwork!
Develop Your Passions
Is there an activity that you are already crazy about? Joining a team or club that aligns with your passions and interests is a great way for you to spend more time doing what you love! If you enjoy sports, try out for team. If you dream of building a droid, join the robotics team!
You can discuss what you are good at or what you enjoy doing with your school counselors and they can help you find an activity that best fits your wants and needs. If your school doesn’t have what you want, check out other community options like parks and recreation offerings or local gyms and clubs.
Learn Something New
Have you always wanted to try something and have never had the chance? Maybe you’ve always chosen athletics but would love to check out theater and acting. Or maybe you’re intrigued by how it would be to join a dance or glee club. Go ahead, give it a shot!
Now’s the time to engage in new experiences and figure out how much you like them with very little risk. You can always change your mind!
Be Social
Extracurriculars at school are a great way to hang out with friends and also meet new people and connections along the way. School clubs are often one of the best ways to develop interpersonal skills as they involve leadership and working together as a team. Plus, you’ll have many opportunities to celebrate (party!) wins and events with your group!
Prepare For College
You’ve probably heard this before, but colleges do look for more than academics when reviewing your transcript for admissions. They want to see that you are actively participating in extracurricular activities and are putting yourself out there, and it gives colleges a better of idea of who you are.
It is not a question of how many, but which activities you choose and how deeply involved you were in them. Read this to find out more about how colleges view extracurriculars.
Enjoy Yourself
High school can be stressful if you are not used to it. Participating in extracurriculars will help you not only survive high school, but also enjoy it.
Sports and exercise have been proven to boost your self-esteem and overall happiness. Not into sports? Getting involved in a club that you are interested in such as yearbook, student council, drama, choir and so on will greatly enrich your teen years!
Become A Well-rounded Person
Life is about more than academics. Take this time to do what you love and explore new things! Many adults have discovered their passions or a lifelong hobby by participating in extracurricular activity at high school. You’ have a chance to sample some of the experiences that make life more enjoyable and rich – and, of course, less routine and boring!
School is supposed to prepare you for life. And while writing essays and preparing for biology tests are very important, there are opportunities to learn life skills outside the classroom too. What’s your favorite extracurricular activity at school? Share with us!