Have you been feeling on the fence about joining extracurriculars at your university? Hopefully this blog can help shine some light! When I first started college, I was worried about not having the time for extracurriculars, but I want to share and reassure you that it is worth making time for extracurriculars.

Find Community

The biggest reason most people join clubs/teams is to find their community. One of the biggest obstacles when starting college is figuring out who you are and surrounding yourself with people with similar interests; getting involved makes this a lot easier. I also really want to point out that this is a great time to try new things! Don’t be afraid to try a new sport or club because most groups expect you to know nothing and will help you learn something new. This is especially true for athletic clubs- most people who play club or intramural sports have never played before and will have more experienced players to help teach you!

Professional Development

It is also important to understand the benefits of extracurricular activities to your professional development. I think a lot of students forget that employers want to see that you are more than your schooling because while it's great to be a 4.0 student there are still hundreds of thousands of other students with a 4.0; the best way to set yourself apart is to have something else that you care about. It is also important to know that it doesn’t have to be something that relates to your major or your future career. One of the highlights on my resume is that I play on and lead an ultimate frisbee team – which has absolutely nothing to do with engineering – but most interviewers point it out because it is something different than they normally see.

Interview Points

Outside of just having that extra highlight on your resume- extracurriculars are great to talk about in interviews. If you play sports- I can almost guarantee that you’ve seen or been a part of some safety issue (which is always a popular interview question). If you are a part of an academic or social club, you can focus on how much time it takes from your schedule and how you organize and balance your days. Even if it is only an hour of your day once a week, it shows that you are capable of having work-life balance which a lot of other students won’t have.

I really hope this helped if you were on the fence about joining any extracurriculars this year!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started!