Extracurriculars are often a way of escaping academics, but they should also compliment them! If you get restless sitting at a desk or computer screen all day, engaging in activities which are more dynamic can be refreshing and relieving. However, it is also easy to get hooked onto that feeling and become too busy with your extracurricular commitments. What we all need to learn is how to find a way to balance our academic activities with our extracurricular passions.
Let me tell you about my own experience. As a creative thinker, I filled my school experience with the arts. Singing lessons were my favourite part of my week, closely followed by cello and piano as well. Every day when I got home from school, I would spend at least an hour practicing these instruments, rehearsing the script for the upcoming school play, or painting a still life. I knew that I wanted to build a career in the arts, no matter which type of ‘art’ it was, and I strived to do everything I could to build my skills and experience.
However, in the run-up to my exams, I realised that certain academics were being sacrificed for my creative endeavours.
My piano lessons would frequently be scheduled during Biology classes, and I found myself having to catch up on entire topics and apologise to my teacher constantly for my misplacement of priorities. It is exactly this which needed to be reevaluated: priorities.
Whilst I was aiming for an arts-based career path, I had to remind myself of the importance of my academics in achieving my goals too. Knowing how to analyse and criticise pieces of art in writing, not just aesthetically, but also politically and historically became vital in applying to university courses. Learning languages developed my logical thinking, analysing each word’s grammatical and syntactical context within a sentence. Of course, STEM subjects do this too, when you delve into complex anatomical or chemical theories, drawing out structures and working through problems.
Parents, teachers, and friends are all there to encourage you in everything you do. But, when they suggest another interesting extracurricular project, you must keep an eye on how much you are already doing. Making a calendar on Outlook or Google is extremely helpful – but make sure to include both academic and extracurricular commitments. An example timeline could be: 9am – 4pm lessons/lectures, 4.30pm football club, 6pm piano practice, 6.30pm Dinner, 7pm homework. This schedule will almost definitely change, such as parents running late picking you up from school, or your friend invites you to hang out. But a written schedule will set out what you need to do in the day before the sun even rises.
Extracurriculars can also be academic, of course. Linguistics club and chemistry club can still be ways to have fun and relax from lessons. However, it is important not to let yourself ‘burn out’. Set realistic goals for your projects; even daily goals can help. For example, do not spend more than one hour on that painting; you can finish it another day. Do not continue practicing that trick when you get home from football club; you can practice at breaktime, on the weekend, or at next week’s meet.
A student’s lifestyle can be jam-packed and stressful, when you need to both study hard and explore your passions outside of lessons. Taking care of your mental health is vital when committing yourself to activities, whether academic or extracurricular. Keeping a solid schedule, setting realistic goals, getting enough sleep and social time between commitments, all help in balancing these priorities.
Struggling to balance your commitments? Talk to one of our specialists today for advice and support!
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