Extracurricular activities – give you an extra edge over others!

Vasu, Ravi and Geeta decided to go trekking during their holidays. The camp co-ordinators organized an informal cultural festival each evening while they were having their dinner. That is when Vasu discovered that he was good at dancing. While the group was singing traditional folk
songs, Ravi composed the music on his keyboard. And on another night, Geeta won the first prize for writing poetry.

Why are extracurricular activities important?

• Education refines our thinking. It makes us more knowledgeable and creates a well
  rounded personality. But human beings have several inherent talents that are waiting to be unearthed.
• These talents have the potential of giving us immense satisfaction. Several students
  decide to take up arts or journalism or soft ware programming in college because they
  participated in all the extracurricular activities that were conducted by the educational
  institutions.
• Participating in extracurricular activities exposes them to a diverse group of students.
  They get to meet the experts in that field. The interaction with these experts and
  peers enhances their interpersonal skills.

Selecting the right extracurricular activity:

• The first step is to be aware of all the diverse activities/camps that theschools/colleges conduct.
• Listen to your heart/gut. Does this trekking trip interest you? Are you a fitness freak?
  Do you love walking on rough terrain and are you physically fit to do so?
• Perhaps you are not physically fit but you love travelling to new places and don’t mindtrying out new things. Then you must go ahead and enrol
• Don’t do what your friends/peers are doing. You are a unique individual. Enrol or join
  other camps in which you are interested. Remember, class trips or study tours are
  practical ways of understanding what you are studying. They cannot be classified as extracurricular activities.
• If you are interested in clay modelling or reading- you could work as a part time
  assistant in a library during the vacation or enrol in a work shop to learn the skill.

So, ultimately extracurricular activities are a means of discovering your inherent talents. You
just need to explore all the various activities that are offered by your schools/colleges or camp
organizers to discover the skill you excel at.

Who knows? Perhaps like Vasu, Ravi or Geeta, you too may end up pursuing your talent as a
career! And you will thank your stars that you participated in the extracurricular activities
organized by your school or college!