Imagine a school where no student feels left out and everyone has a group of friends where they belong. The students are genuinely happy to be in school, are generally in a good mood, and are also doing well academically. This would be the result of all students participating in an extracurricular activity. An extracurricular activity is any activity that someone does outside of school, like sports, working on the yearbook committee, or serving on the student council. Our principal should require students to participate in at least one extracurricular activity because it will encourage students to make friends and develop new skills.

Requiring students to participate in extracurricular activities gives them the opportunity to make new friends. Anyone who has been a part of a team or club knows that when someone is a part of a group, they form friendships that can last. Additionally, students who were always too afraid to be themselves at school would have a second chance at doing so by buiding confidence. Having friends is important because friends can make a person happier overall and give them a sense of belonging. Making friends outside of school will also earn them more friends in school. Soon, the empty nearby seats at the lunch table will be occupied with people that a student met at one of their extracurricular activities. Some people may not be very social at school, but participating in an activity outside of school will give them the chance to speak up and form strong friendships.

Whether a student is interested in doing sports, cooking, or participating in an academic competition for their extracurricular activity, they will develop several important skills along the way. The most obvious skill they will develop: being able to do that particular activity. However, students will also develop leadership skills, collaboration skills, and many other skills that can be applied to tasks and activities that they will do in the future. For example, one extracurricular activity that I participate in is dance. Dance has taught me how to work well in a team because I have to work with the other girls in my group to create unified movements. Dance has also taught me leadership skills and teaching skills because I often teach dance classes for the students at a lower level. I have the responsibility of deciding what they need to accomplish that day, and then executing it. Like dance, extracurricular activities can teach students important skills, that will benefit them in school and in the future.

In the end, requiring students to participate in at least one extracurricular activity will only benefit them by giving them the opportunity to make new friends and develop important skills. If someone is marked as the "shy kid" at school and doesn't have friends, participating in an extracurricular activity will build their confidence to speak up and make friends. Extracurricular activities can also teach students important life lessons and give them skills that will improve their work and relations in school and in the future. All in all, requiring students to take extracurricular activities is a decision that at first glance seems terrible because it takes away the students' freedom, but in reality, it will have many positive effects on their lives.