By Rebecca Bojar and Nikta Mozhgani
Features Contributors
Every year students at South join numerous clubs, sports teams, music groups and theater groups. Sometimes students seem to be overloading themselves with extremely busy schedules that don’t allow them any time to relax or even sleep. Are students really enjoying all these activities or are they simply succumbing to the pressure to do these extracurriculars to get into a competitive college?
Most students at Newton South feel pressure to apply to top colleges and many will do anything it takes to gain an advantage to get into these schools. For example, students participate in extracurriculars in order to be a “well-rounded student,” since they are afraid that grades and standardized test scores aren’t enough.
Benjamin Youngman, a chorus teacher at South, believes that students should be able to do what they enjoy and that they should not do it for the sole purpose of getting into college.
“One of the things that adds to student stress is saying you have to do this to get into college,” said Youngman. “It’s not necessarily so.”
Furthermore, student stress about college is not limited to upperclassmen. Gemma Hill, a freshman, said that her friends already worry about applications even in their first year of high school.
“I feel like a lot of people do feel pressure to do activities outside of school,” said Hill. “I remember on the bus the other day my friends were talking about trying to do volunteer work to put on their applications.”
In addition, Sophomore Sebastian Tsao also admits that he feels stress from participating in multiple extracurriculars. Succeeding in high-level classes, along with the clubs that he is involved in such as math team, model UN, FBLA, speech and debate, and the Roar newspaper, Tsao is someone who fits the definition of a “well-rounded student.”
However, Tsao pointed out how it would not be worth his time doing these activities if he did not truly enjoy them.
“I genuinely enjoy them. I would not do a club just because it gets me into college,” said Tsao. “If you don’t enjoy it, I feel like you would feel the stress more and it would be more suffering for you.”
Junior year is particularly one of the most stressful years of the high school experience. This is because junior year can be the beginning of the college process for many, and on top of that, students worry about standardized testing and the decision of which colleges to apply to. Everyone starts talking about college.
Junior Wiley Sheng Chen noted that while both his friends and classmates have become more competitive, he does not feel stressed by a number of extracurriculars that everyone is doing but rather the number of hard courses everyone takes.
“I don’t do activities just for college. I do believe that they do help you to get into better colleges but I truly like doing my activities,” said Chen. “The most stressful part is classes, not extracurriculars. Our school has a trend of who can take the most honors/APs so it adds stress.”
Looking back, senior Annah Bierenbaum acknowledged that she took on a lot during her junior year to look like a well-rounded student in the application process.
“I had absolutely no free time last year, but that was undoubtedly my own fault with a too heavy junior year course load,” noted Bierenbaum. “I moved up in English from ACP to honors my junior year after being told by a college counselor that I wouldn’t get into my dream college otherwise.”
Reflecting on a busy year, Bierenbaum recognized that it is important for students to understand their limits.
“As a student, you need to balance academic classes at levels that are challenging and suitable for you with any sort of after school activity that meets your needs, whether that be a sport or theater or even working a job,” said Bierenbaum.
While Bierenbaum feels that she truly enjoyed all her extracurricular activities, she acknowledges that applying to college from South can be especially stressful because of the pressure from peers to attend the most competitive schools in the country.
“South has kind of an ‘Ivy culture,’ meaning that people assume if you don’t go to a highly ranked school you somehow are lesser, which is so untrue, but still a prominent and crippling belief of the student body,” said Bierenbaum.
Overall, South has numerous activities, and students are encouraged to try as many as they want. While all of the students interviewed for this article clearly enjoyed their extracurriculars, they acknowledged that the stress of college applications does weigh heavily and does influence some of their choices. In the end, these students also noted that it is more important to do clubs for the right reasons: because they genuinely enjoy them and want to be involved.
Bierenbaum concluded that although students will feel pressure to over-extend themselves and join as many clubs as possible, it is important to do what you love and not get too influenced by others.
“Everyone is involved in different ways, and by comparing yourself to someone who has a 5.0 and is the president of three clubs, you undercut your own achievements and bring unnecessary stress on yourself,” said Bierenbaum.
