The sound of laughter fills the air as one girl talks about her experience as a midfielder. The other midfielders smile while the attack and defense laugh their hearts out. The lacrosse club is one of the many extracurricular activities at this school. Though you may be busy, extracurricular activities can help you make new friends, stay active, and makes you use your time wisely.

Ever have trouble connecting with people? When you join a after-school activity, your group all have that one thing in common, which is a great place to start. Like in the first paragraph; maybe it's lacrosse. You can connect further by joining the subgroups. In the lacrosse club, there are 3: defense, attack, and midfield. Or say you joined the book club; you could talk about books you've read. Kinda like lacrosse, book club also has subgroups: fiction and non-fiction. All in all, extracurricular activities will help you meet more people.

Staying active physically and socially is good for your mental and physical health. When you talk to others, you improve your diplomacy skills, as well as your ability to hold a conversation. After all, who wants to be lonely for the rest of their life? Exercise, as I'm sure you know, does wonderful things to the body. Such as reducing fat, raising your cardiovascular endurance, and, in general, making you feel good. Have you ever gone for a, say, 1 or 2 mile walk and felt refreshed after? It feels nice doesn't it? So get out there and have fun!

However, some people may say that they don't have enough time for extracurricular activities. They have soccer practice Monday, basketball on Wednesday, lacrosse practice on Friday, and a basketball game, as well as a lacrosse game on Saturday. While that is a busy schedule, that person is forgetting about Tuesday and Thursday. What if they wanted if off? Well, think about it. Does it seem like these after-school things take up much time? Not at all! In fact, most of them only take up an hour of your day. This will also help you manage your time so you can do as much as possible within that small period. This skill will also come in handy when you are older.

After-school activities are a great way to meet new people, help you get out more, and use your time to it's fullest potential. You should take advantage of the amazing opportunity you have to be more, well, out there! So the real question is, why wouldn't you join an extracurricular activity?