As I trudge through the first weeks of my freshman year I find myself tired, distracted and completely unmotivated, which is a shame being how much my parents are paying for me to go here. It’s hard not to think back to high school when I could do it all, endless club meetings before school then a sport after school for every season. Yet somehow I still managed to get great grades, have a life and be in bed by 11:30 for a respectable 7 hours of sleep.

I decided to look further into my daily production levels in search of a self-diagnosis for my lack of motivation. Sunday evenings are devoted to THON, Monday’s I have soccer, and Tuesday is CommRadio with the rest of the week free for myself.  From my observational study I discovered that I can produce work at such a faster pace with a completely advanced quality on nights that I am forced to allocate my time. Wednesday and Thursday go at a completely different pace. My Netflix rate of press to watch next episode increases, I do little to no work with the classic mindset that Sunday has more hours than the rest of the week, and go to bed in the middle of the night for absolutely no reason at all, let alone a good one.  Yet, what has never made sense to me was the correlation between a student’s productivity and the amount of time their allotted.

It seems I am not the only student that strives under the pressure of school and extracurricular activities.  Starting with student’s first real involvement at the middle school level they learn the proper behavior. Sports and distinguished clubs require practiced discipline and responsibility (Massoni, Erin 2011). When achieving success through four touchdowns or the comeback to win Quiz Bowl answer, students develop a sense of pride and self confidence that you can’t quite feel in the classroom. “Participation in school activities, especially athletics, leads to higher self-esteem and enhanced status among peers, which some argue is deterrent to antisocial behavior.” (Brown, M.D., 2000)

There is no scientific grounding to the correlation between student’s academic successes and their extracurriculars. Although the Total Extracurricular Activity Participation (TEAP) and The Developmental Model researchers have found that “by teaching characteristics, such as a strong work ethic, respect for authority, and perseverance, sports participation develops skills that are consistent with educational values and this help students succeed”().

Although for many students the pressures from school, sports, clubs, college admission and future employers is far too much to handle. There are constantly growing expectations of students to be perfect to attend top tier universities or land sublime internships to lead to the splendid job you have worked tirelessly for. There is believed to be the proper rigorous class schedules, necessary standardized test average and perfect friends and social life. These burdens leave students with both anxiety and depression.  The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA conducted The American Freshman: National Norms in the fall of 2014. Through their study of over 150,000 freshman students nationwide 9.5% had developed feelings of depression and anxiety from the 6.1% reported in 2009 (Eagan).

Is it that these students cannot keep up with how our world is changing, utilizing technology, and the latest social demands? Or have they not found that through involvement comes time management, success and pride? I am working to become as involved as possible… to share with my parents that their working till age 77 will be completely worth it, and so I can achieve my goals, go to bed on time and have fun while doing so.

Bibliography

Broh, Beckett A. “Linking Extracurricular Programming to Academic Achievement: Who Benefits and Why?” Sociology of Education. Vol. 75. N.p.: American Sociological Association, 2002. 69-72. Print.

Brown, M. D. (2000). Science or soccer? — how important are extracurricular activities?

Eagan, Kevin. “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PR 2014OGRAM Cirp at the HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA.” The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014 (n.d.): n. pag. COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM at the HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT UCLA. Web.

Massoni, Erin (2011) “Positive Effects of Extra Curricular Activities on Students,” ESSAI: Vol. 9, Article 27.

Schwarz, Alan. “Survey Finds Many New College Students Feel Overwhelmed.” The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 04 Feb. 2015. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.