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Putting the Factor of Fun Into Extra Curriculars

By: Natalie Reeves, a junior at Leigh High School on May 07, 2019

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High school is supposed to be the best four years of your life. As a student, you are supposed to get involved in as much as you can. It is great to be well-rounded, but in a small high school, such as Leigh, it’s often hard to juggle all of the extracurricular activities we are involved in.

Often times, I think students forget that high school is supposed to be fun and we are supposed to enjoy it. With everything students are involved in, whether it be school work, extracurricular activities, sports, or a job, sometimes they get too focused on the stress of it all, and they forget to have fun, be a kid, and just enjoy the ride.

We are in school for about 7 hours a day. After school some students may go to practice or work. Sometimes after practice or work students have to go to a different extracurricular activity. When students go home at night, they often have homework and have to do whatever else they need to do at home. After a long day, students have to repeat that same day, five times a week. With all of students’ time dedicated to other activities, there isn’t always much time for fun.

For some students, sports and extracurricular activities aren’t fun anymore. This may be because of their own personal reasons, but I believe t may be because they don’t have time for anything else.

Summer is fast approaching, and that might seem like a needed break for many students.  But is it really a break? Nowadays, even our summers consist of weights, camps, leagues, and jobs. Vacations are often hard to squeeze in. Summers are supposed to be spent not having to worry about anything stressful, and they are our break from school.

Responsibilities are important, and having a summer job builds character and contributes to spending money, but I encourage all students to never forget to have fun. Do whatever you love during the summer and don’t worry about anything! Get the sunburn you will complain about, pull an all-nighter, and do something different, like go to the drive-in movie theater. Summers are supposed to be fun, and more and more we forget that.

I believe the final aspect of extracurricular activities that takes fun out of everything is starting at such a young age. I know that if you want to be a good athlete or whatever activity you are passionate about you have to put in the work, and extra time, but some kids are starting at the age of 3 or 4. By the time they get up to high school, they may be burned out from playing for multiple years already. To all parents out there, I encourage you not to be pressured into starting your kids in every single sport and activity at such a young age.  And it’s ok if they don’t go to every single camp or participate in every single league.

From a student to parents, coaches, teachers, and anybody else that may affect our lives, we all need to remember the aspect of fun. Having a little fun once in a while is what everybody needs!