Sunday, April 20, 2008
The oppertunity cost of extra-curriculars
With play opening on May 1st (you should all come see it...hopefully it will be amazing) and that being the last day to get deposits back, I find myself wondering if the stress and time constrants of extra-curriculars are really worth it? For the next two weeks I have play rehearsal or a performance almost every night but I still have to do all of the work for my AP classes. Some believe that the purpose of extra-curriculars isn't to enjoy being with your peers and develop social skills; it's to put them on a resume for college or scholarships. The oppertunity cost of participating in extra-curriculars is a lose of time to study or work. While most of us will get scholarships to college, we still have a lot to pay for. A hidden benefit of extra-curriculars however, is developing time managment skills and creating a "well rounded" candidate for colleges and scholarship committes to look at. Usually people do extra-curriculars because they find them interesting or relate to a topic they want to study or work in; occasionally their are a Paris Geller (Gilmore Girls reference) who only do things to put them on their resumes. Extra-curriculars are wonderful and fulfilling. Just remember the next time you're on a bus coming back from a match or complaining about the long practices...you had a choice to have more independent time and you chose to participate in this activity instead.
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4 comments:
I agree that balancing a schedule at this time of year is really difficult (as I am posting this at 11:30 at night). However, I think that learning to manage time will be really helpful even beyond resumes. In college, most of us will have a lot more going on and a lot more to do living on our own. I think the time we spend on this will not be a great cost as it will prepare many of us for the future as poor and busy college students.
Things are crazy around this time of year, and the fact that it's second semester of our senior year isn't really helping that much. However, I find that the busier I am with out of school work, the better I manage my time. If I'm not doing anything and think that I can put things off, I do, and do some more, and then a little longer, until I eventually just don't do them. I think that learning to manage time is, like Lyndsay said, extremely important, no matter if something has to give here and there, especially for those of us going to college next year.
I agree that extra-curriculars do have the benefit of teaching one to benefit one's time, balancing out at least some of the opportunity costs that they entail. Unfortunately, it seems as if that's not really the reason most people take on these endeavors.
How many times do you hear people in sports cheering when a practice is cancelled? Yeah, practice sucks, but it was still their choice in the first place. I'm not sure that these activities' opportunity costs would really be outweighed if not for those nice spots they fill up on resumes.
What I regard as even less fortunate is not that extra-curriculars have these opportunity costs, but rather that other activities that have similar benefits (i.e. teaching time management) can't go towards proving anything on one's resume.
Sad as it is to say, I used to be even more OCD about my studying habits. Then I got more of a social life, including a boyfriend, and I learned to better manage my time. Same exact grades, less stressing out. I was extremely proud of that. But because I spend that time going on walks or at the movies, even though I'm getting as much benefit in the field of time-management as I would if I were out playing sports (i.e. games), I get no credit.
I know, stupid argument, but in this extremist world of resume-padding and extra-curriculars out the ears, I might as well make a defense for the other, more relaxed and less-caffeinated side.
I've heard enough speeches about extracurricular activities to make me want to puke. In my forensics category (hey, speaking of extracurricular activities!) one of the topics offered was "What effect, if any, does teenage employment affect academic performance and co-curricular participation?" I think you have to throw jobs in to the mix a little bit, but going back to extracurriculars... right now I'm balancing spring play costume design, managing for varsity baseball, FBLA, Fort TV (when I get a chance to broadcast), two jobs and three AP classes. This is why I was hemming Marty's play pants at 12:30 AM while reciting geographic models for AP Geo. Yay. But I chose to do all this, and right now I'm not doing any of it well. I skipped a baseball game to work on stuff for the play, I asked off for a week and a half from one job and I only worked one day this week at the other, and I just started studying for AP tests. But my resume is packed, guys!
I will say that the resume got me into college and got me merit-based aid from my college that has really helped me out. It's been tough, but I think it's been worth it.
Oh yeah, and I have fun on occasion as well. :)
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