Kids used to go to school and play one or two sports a year, it wasn’t until the brink of middle school when the need to excel increased.
In today’s world, everything has become fast-paced and busy. As Millennials, we are tasked with “busy-work” in order to fill the blank space in our resumes and college applications. In a sense, society has forced us to “overload” ourselves and our schedules, so that we may be prepared for the real world. But, is it truly the best and only option for acceptance into these desired futures?
Originally, students were typically expected to participate in only one or two sports or clubs, but rarely was anything additional expected. This gave the students the opportunity to excel greatly in the sport/club of their choice. Because students only had the responsibility of participating in a minimum amount of extracurricular activities, they had the capability to focus on their school work as well.
Therefore, less extracurricular activities gave the individuals the ability to succeed exponentially in grades and their sport of choice. “Colleges kind of look for those people that are always busy and always engaging,” said GHS Junior, Stephen Zuniga.
Today’s society is very different, compared to that of earlier generations, and therefore has preferred and required that individuals are well rounded in their studies, athletics, clubs, and community service.
“I try to be as well rounded as I can be, and I try to stay focused on what I am participating in,” said GHS sophomore, Alexiss Medina.
This is desired because it gives colleges and employers the kind of students or employees that make for an environment of diversity.
Students do certain activities in the hopes of being noticed by different colleges. In fact, some people don’t even enjoy the activities they partake in, and do it solely for the purpose of college or career. Other students, do win both ways, in that they enjoy what they do and get positive college recognition for it.
“I don’t think my schedule is overloaded, I think it’s a perfect balance of everything I need to have. Everything that’s there, none of it is considered for recreational use. Orchestra is considered a hobby, but ultimately I’m not in it because I thought it would be fun, but because I thought it would help me, and I ended up liking it also,” said Alexiss Medina. Therefore, perhaps having your schedule “overloaded” is not truly a bad thing, yes it may be difficult, but in the end it will help you.
The Millennial View is a regular feature giving readers a look at what the younger generation thinks about current topics. Haley and Julianna are students at Georgetown High School.
