Many people have at least one activity that they love, care about, or are passionate about. School helps many kids find out their strengths and weaknesses. I believe that our school should make it mandatory to do an extracurricular activity. This will benefit students tremendously. If these activities can help students expand their social skills, get new opportunities, and let them have some fun at school, then I think our schools should have this requirement.

First, we are going to talk about one of the reasons why the students should be required to be part of at least one extracurricular activity. That reason is sociability. If someone that is shy joins a club that they are interested in, they might talk more because they are in their element and where they feel the safest. Being in a club can also give kids the opportunity to make new friends. Students can learn social skills from working in groups within the club, or working with the whole club. Students might feel like they fit in more if they are in an activity where mostly everyone has a common interest. Depending on the club, there are multiple different ways that doing an extracurricular activity can help a student expand their social skills.

New opportunities and getting to explore different interests are a great benefit of doing an extracurricular activity. Students can learn about something they never knew existed. One time I was at a camp and they made us choose an activity that we wanted to try. I chose wood burning, and I had a learned a plethora of things that I did not know before. If the camp had never made me choose something to do, I would have never learned about wood burning. This very closely relates with the extracurricular activities. Students can get exposure to different types of activities, and may even find a new hobby that they enjoy. Next, we will talk about the third reason why I believe that we should make the activity mandatory.

The third reason why students should have to do an activity is so they can have fun. For many kids, school is work and stress. If they have a club to look forward to at the end of the day, it can make school more enjoyable, and maybe even more fun. It is also relaxing to have an activity that you get to do with your friends, and not worry about homework or tests. Some extracurricular activities may have fun projects or activities to do that students can enjoy. If a student is doing an activity that they enjoy or have an interest in, then it is likely that they will be having fun.

Having fun, learning new social skills, and exploring different clubs/activities are just some of the many reasons why our school should make extracurricular activities mandatory. These activities can lead students through a journey of self-discovery, and can benefit most of the students. I think it is the right choice to make all students do an extracurricular activity, and doing so will let kids enjoy some of the things that they care about and are passionate about.