Extracurricular activities. Good for this, good for that, they are supposedly something essential when it comes to improving your life. But is it true?

Aarti Amin is heavily involved in both sport and music extracurricular activities, and values the advantages they have in her life: “Extracurricular activities have given me the opportunity to take on new skills and hobbies that I wouldn’t otherwise. They let me take my mind off work and the stresses of life. They let me meet so many people of different ages, and allow me to meet people with similar interests to mine, and because of this I have made some of my closest friends.”

Speaking from years (and years) of experience, I myself also know that there are a great number of benefits of partaking in extracurricular activities. Though there can be a risk of spreading yourself too thinly when finding new hobbies, finding a select few that you really enjoy and the skills you learn from them can sometimes seem like one of the best things in the world.

In this day and age, the importance of our education, and a knee-high pile of homework, can put a lot of pressure on academia and feel like there isn’t time for much else. However, not only does participating in an extracurricular activity give you a stress-free break from life worries that is more productive than binge-watching reality TV, but staying committed to it will require some schedule changing. It definitely tests your time management skills, but once you’ve mastered it (it may be quite difficult), you’ve got that skill for life.

There are a lot of other soft skills you can improve, depending on what the activity is. Most extracurricular activities will play some part in your teamwork skills and self-confidence, and maybe even your leadership skills. Other extracurricular activities will fine tune specific skills; debating can massively improve your public speaking and on-the-spot thinking skills, and you can only improve playing a musical instrument with lots of practice and dedication (I learnt the hard way, but it gets easier).

Extracurricular activities can even improve your social life. While the friends you have are probably great, it can be nice to meet people who are interested in and passionate about the same things you are. True story: I met almost all of my closest friends by joining music ensembles.

In addition to all the skills you can learn and improve, some extracurricular activities can work wonders for your mental health. Doing exercise or taking part in a sport releases endorphins, which improve your mood, and musicians are more likely to use both sides of their brain at once.

And, of course, the reason why extracurricular activities are relevant to many of us: the dreaded UCAS application. A number of us will apply to university, and therefore will be expected to fill out a UCAS form (unless there are any more major changes in the near future), and extracurricular activities are a great thing to mention; some activities like the Duke of Edinburgh award can add points to your application, and others can be great to write about in your personal statement. If you don’t want to try something brand new, but know what you’re passionate about and have an idea of what you want to study or what job you want to do, getting work experience or even using the internet to gain more knowledge about the subjects you’re interested in will give you an edge over other applicants- but it still counts as extracurricular.

It sounds like I’ve churned out the generic reasons that everyone gives for getting involved with extracurricular activities, and I pretty much have. This is, however, purely because it’s true. For me, getting involved with extracurricular activities has broadened my knowledge of a lot of things, expanded my friendship circle and given me a boost of happiness exactly when I needed it. I genuinely do believe that my participation in extracurricular activities was, and still is, the best thing that happened to me, and I only hope that more people grow to have the same enthusiasm about it that I do.

Zaynab Ahmed, Woodford County High School