Extracurriculars are silent killers. I feel like everyone always talks about how stressed they are about school and their academics but rarely to hear about an extracurricular stressing you out or pushing you to the brink. 

Extracurriculars are supposed to be fun, enjoyable, something that relieves your stress and not exasperate it. But what happens when they become more about padding your resume than productively spending your time doing something you love? 

I truly thought I joined some clubs because I genuinely had some interest, and for a time, I did. But, the Russian Literature Club, and National Honor Society, just wasted my time and didn’t really allow me to be productive. 

I believe it’s important for students to compile a list of extracurriculars that accurately shows their interests and passions. Colleges will not care that you were a co-founder of the Movie Club if it doesn’t pertain to what you want to do in the future. Sure, it can be a good way to show your interests outside of school, but in reality, it just comes off as a filler and resume padder. 

Now onto the stressful part. What happens when your extracurriculars impede on your school work? I have three of some of the hardest classes I’ve ever taken and it shows. It’s really troubling to find a balance between them. 

Mock Trial, right now, is pretty mellow because we haven’t gotten the competition case yet, but we are still in the process of attorney tryouts which is a lot of pressure, especially as a senior who has been on the team all four years of high school. 

Even just one interest of mine has me going home at about 8:00 p.m. and that does not include all the sports games I go to to get photos, or the tutoring I do, for free. On top of that, there are college applications. 

Safe to say…I am stressed, again.