Adults may not always be willing to recognize it, but your life as a teen is pretty busy and pretty stressful. Between school, friends, work, and extracurriculars, there is a lot to keep track of. The good news is that all of the things you’re doing now can have a positive impact on your future. Some extracurricular activities in particular can teach you important skills you’ll use the rest of your life!
Photography
There is plenty of room for debate about what should count as art and what doesn’t, but the fact remains that learning photography can be incredibly valuable. If you get to be good at it, you can turn it into your own side gig, or even a full-time business venture. Photography teaches you patience and how to have an eye for detail. You can even get a bit philosophical and think about the impact of perspective on both an image and your life. Those are all skills that are useful no matter what else you do in life.
Gardening
Gardening may seem like more of a hobby to you than anything else, but it’s actually quite useful. There’s a whole lot more to gardening than just plopping some seeds into the ground and hoping for the best. It takes a good amount of planning and preparation, both things that are important to be able to do in life. Then there’s the dedication that comes with taking care of plants and cultivating them so that they can grow. It can even be a sort of therapy for some people. Horticulture therapy has many benefits for your brain and mental health. Plus, it’s also a skill you can practice business principles with by selling fresh produce!
Sports
The most common extracurricular activities are usually under the category of sports. Participation in athletics, like other extracurriculars, offers the chance for benefits that can help you for the rest of your life. You can learn to enjoy being physically active, something that is crucial to maintaining your health for the rest of your life. In some sports you also learn the qualities of being a team player and how to work through difficult situations, which can make a huge difference in how successful you are in your career.
As it turns out, extracurricular activities can do a whole lot more for you than just take up your time. Sure, one of those things is to help you look better when you apply for colleges and universities. But they also help teach you valuable skills that will come in handy throughout the rest of your life. If that’s not a good reason to participate, what is?
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