Imagine being in a club, the kids in it share the same interests as you. You feel at home in this club, and you can talk to your peers if you have any trouble. Making extracurricular activities, like clubs and sports, mandatory will give students opportunities to enjoy this feeling and much more. They will give kids new experiences, and help them with their social lives, I know that these are true because I joined a club once and experienced all of these things!

When kids join activities, they gain new experiences that they had never had before. Firstly, they could discover hobbies, and find out that they really like something that they would have never thought to try before. There is a saying, "You never know until you try", and some kids need to hear this saying. They might never try to join a club unless it is mandatory, but when they do, they might find something that they really enjoy hiding in one of those activities. Also, if they already enjoy one an activity, as in sports, art, music, and others, then they can get more experience in that field. If a child really enjoys drawing, painting, and being creative, but they don't really seem to have time to practice that, they could join an art club and become better at what they enjoy. Additionally, making mandatory activities will get some kids to do something other than laze around at home. In my case, and many of my friends' as well, I have nothing to do outside of school and get bored really fast. Having a mandatory extracurricular activity will help me get outside the house and do more. For these reasons, students would get so many new, life changing experiences from mandatory extracurricular activities.

Students' social lives could change for the better because of this new rule. Children will make new friends during these activities. Joining clubs and teams will introduce kids to new peers, and they might even be potential friends. Moreover, making students join an activity will help them in the long run. A lot of clubs will require students to have good grades, volunteer, and more. This will be better for when children are applying for colleges and even jobs when they are older. Lastly, students will grow closer with their old friends. If students join clubs that their friends join, they can spend more time with them than they usually do. I only have half of a block with one of my closest friends, and none with the other. Joining a club together will give us much more time to talk and make awesome memories. In conclusion, making students join clubs and teams will improve their social lives.

In my old school, I joined the Lego club with my little sister, I didn't know many people and neither did she. My knowledge of Lego was also not very vast, but none of the other clubs had seemed appealing to me and I also owned some Lego bricks at home. Prior to joining the club, my biggest, most impressive build was a multicolored box that somehow housed a small Lego girl. My sister was not anywhere as experienced than I was. In fact, she only joined because I had, and she wanted to do everything that her big sister did. The first thing we had to do in that club was to make a team and make a space themed build, and our sibling duo decided to partner up with another pair girls. We had 45 minutes, the leftover time would be for displaying the builds. When the time started, our little band of four barely talked, except for the occasional joke or two, but as time went on, we had started to open up more, and soon we couldn't build due to the amount of laughter coming out of our mouths. By the end, we had made an ugly, big, white box that a little, astronaut figurine had squished inside. A masterpiece. We couldn't even present our build due to the fits of giggles that had overcome us, but it was worth it, and my sister and I became good friends with the girls. As time went on, we got better and better at building, and I fostered a new hobby; building with Lego. As you can see, joining an extracurricular activity benefited both my sister and I, and making these activities mandatory will touch many more students.

Although some students will complain against this new rule, extracurricular activities will benefit them in ways that they do not see. Their lives will be filled with interesting new memories as they get more comfortable in their club, or sport. Many more students will have a better social life, making new friends, gaining better chances at colleges and jobs, and improving their old relationships. My time at the Lego club proved these things to be true, and I believe that making mandatory extracurricular activities will help so many students. More schools should make activities mandatory, not just ours.