I believe after-school activities should be a requirement made by every school across America. After-school activities have proven to help students with a variety of things in their school years. For example, students get easily recognized by various amounts of colleges for the activity they are doing. Another reason is it helps students make friends with people who enjoy the same things as them. Last but not least, it also allows students to experience something new and prepare them for the future. If my principal were to make my friends and I to do an extracurricular activity, I would agree to it. It is something to do and it is enjoyable. I think students should be required to participate in an extracurricular activity because it helps students get noticed by colleges, it gives them a chance to make friends, and it gives them preparation for the future.

Firstly, after-school activities give students a chance to get watched by colleges. Extracurricular activities are one of the main things colleges look for. For example, my brother signed up for

B-Tech to do engineering. After hearing about it,

Virginia Tech started watching him and has invited him to their campus plenty of times. Along with getting noticed, students also have a chance of getting scholarships. Scholarships are a huge deal to many kids and teens who want to go to college. Although earning a scholarship is like getting into

The Olympics , it is still possible and it doesn't hurt to try. Scholaships have been helpful to many athletes and doctors throughout the years, so why wouldn't they be helpful to the kids who want to succeed as well? After all, it can be helpful to anyone, and perhaps a student is striving to earn one right now.

Another reason students should join an activity is it helps them make friends. Making friends in an environment students enjoy is the easiest way to make friends. The students who are in the same activity probably enjoy some of the same things as the other kids around them, making it easier to converse with them. It also teaches students to be more outgoing, which can help them with future problems, like speaking up. Students can be more comfortable and confident around kids just like them. Even if kids don't want to make new friends, they can join a club with their current friends and spend more time with them. Having friends within the activity can prevent the activity from being boring. Lastly, not only can it help students make friends in the activity, but it shows that the students involved might be interested in something other kids might have not expected from them. This makes them more attractive, enjoyable, and unpredictable, which are characteristics that help attract friends.

Along with the other reasons, activities can help prepare students for the future. These activities require time management, which is something many kids don't understand or haven't learned. Time management is helpful for the future when students get jobs and need to work out hours with their boss. It not only helps with time management, but what students want to do in the future as well. Students aren't prone to enjoy the first club they try or even the fifth, but it can help them find a new hobby. A new hobby may not seem like a big deal, but it can end up being what the student wants to do in the future and go to college for. It also trains them for that profession they want to succeed in. High schools have the availability of many different clubs and activities, so why not try them? Students have the capability of joining something, and if they don't like it, at least they tried it and now they know not to do it later in life.

In conclusion, I believe students should join a club or an after school activity. It helps with many things the students may need in the future or strive for later in life. Kids who have the ability to join something that may change their life should join whatever might impact them and their future. Even if they might not see it, it helps them a long way into the future and opens up opportunities that might not be available to every child. Students should join activities and clubs whether they are required or not. It has so many benefits, I don't see why students shouldn't join. They can make friends, get noticed by colleges, find new hobbies, prepare for the future, and so much more. Overall, students can find success by just trying something they may have never before. Something that may seem like a simple activity or a "hang-out" can turn into something so much more.