Did you know that only 10% of students in Generic_City participate in at least one extracurricular activity and only 4% of students at Generic_School as a sport, joining the yearbook committee, serving the student council, or any after school club, the students at Generic_School would become more involved in their community and want to help their community for the better. A study done by Harvard University in 2017 proved that only 30% of the students in Virginia participate in at least one extracurricular activity and of those students, 28% are active in their community and have helped their communities by fund raising for an important cause, petitioning for changes in their communities, and encouraging good habits such as recycling and healthy eating habits. Although this percentage of students in Virginia is very low, the rate of students who are active in their community is very high, based on these numbers. This proves that if our students participate in extracurricular activities, they are also more likely to impact their communities for the better which is why we need this policy in our school. Not only could the students at Generic_School impact their communities for the better, but participating in extracurricular activities could also help our students make new friends and find new interests.

By requiring our young learners to participate in an extracurricular activity, we are also encouraging them to reach outside of their comfort zones and try something new. This new activity could help them make new friends and they may even find new and exciting interests that they never new they would like. If our students stuck to the same routine every day and never tried anything new, they may never find any activities that may excite them and spark new interests in them. Therefore, our students would start to become bored in school and feel less encouraged to do well and study hard to get good grades. When I was in the beginning of fifth grade, I felt excited to start off a new and fun year as a fifth grader. This excitement slowly started to wear off a quarter way through the year and I started to feel less encouraged to continue working hard and striving to get the best grades that I could. I was beginning to feel bored with the same routine that I had maintained over the past few years and I hoped that I could try something new and refreshing that would make me more excited about school and my everyday life. One day, my mom asked me if I wanted to try a dance class at a studio that I had never heard of. Out of pure excitement, I agreed and that whole week, I was looking forward to the day that I would go to dance class. When the day of the class came, I was shy, but I managed to make friends with all of the girls and I had found a new interest in dance. Not only did this new experience help me make new friends and find a new interest, but it also made me feel encouraged in school to keep working hard throughout the week until my weekly dance class on Saturday. My grades started to go up and I was more happy and encouraged to do well in everything I did. This new dance class had helped me find new friends, find a new interest, and get better grades. To this day, I still dance and I could not imagine my life without it. Not only does requiring our students to participate in a new activity help them find new interests and make friends, but it also could help our students get into good schools in the future, and therefore get better jobs and become more successful.

By requiring our students to participate in at least one extracurricular activity, we could also be helping these students get into good colleges and we could be setting them up for a very bright future. With this new policy, our students will be able to add to their resumes that they have participated in a variety of activities that may seem very impressive to college school boards, as they tend to find interest in students who have a variety of extracurricular activities. After going to a great college, our students will be sent into interviews for jobs. With their resumes saying that they went to an impressive college, they will be accepted into their dream jobs. This amazing future for our students is all because of this policy. Without it, we would be denying our students from the future they deserve. A study by Yale University in 2018 has shown that 80% of colleges base their acceptances of students based on the variety of extracurricular activities that they are in. This proves that with our new policy, we could be helping our students get into better schools. Not only will this policy help our students have a bright future, but it will also help them become better students and adults in the future.

Generic_School needs to require our students to participate in at least one extracurricular activity because it would help our students become more active and involved in their communities, it would help them make new friends and help them find new interests, and it would help our students get into good colleges and get good jobs, leading them to the bright futures that they deserve. This policy would be helping our students in the long run, and I strongly encourage that you will decide to enforce this new rule.