University extracurricular actives, such as clubs or sorties may in fact give students a boost in a lifetime of affairs. But, it isn’t as simple as a yes or no answer.  There is no one data point that states there is in fact a lifetime benefit of joining a club for example. This should not be tied solely to scholarly benefits, but broadly from mental health, to enjoyment, or to improve ones own social skills. New York City College of Technology, from my personal experience does not have a strong extracurricular actives. 

Starting with fun extracurricular actives, let’s begin with something everyone does, eat! A friend of mine who goes to City Tech participates in this event where they give out free food, cooked meals in a container. And I have seen on her social media stories that there is food leftover and available to come pick up. If you are a City Tech student and don’t know about this, well then how do you know I’m not making this up? If you do take advantage of this program, you can save money if you perhaps buy your lunch out, $12 on the low end. If you only eat out once a week you can use the money saved up for something else. Maybe something for school, an investment, or a luxury. Food is a life necessity. With lunch settled, City Tech also has access to a website called OpenLab. Which gives us not only the ability to post online for classes, but also share ideas with one another. You can join an online club, with a variety of categories. Some more academically useful such as “Learning and Coding Python with AI!” Others are for more so enjoyment. The exposure to both of types of these clubs is exposure! Exposure towards new opportunities, an employer that would possibly be interested in if you knew you python and knew about AI usage, granted if you’re in that field. If not, it shows not only initiative, but your  ability to stick with something if you do happen to stick with it a long time. I couldn’t not mention you have the opportunity, the luck, whatever you would like to call it to make lifelong friends in these clubs and maybe even a spouse. 

Locally speaking, when I think of City Tech, I do not think of fraternities and sororities. Otherwise known as Greek life. That is because there are none here. Some other colleges in the CUNY system do have fraternities and sororities, but you don’t think of fraternities and sororities when you think of CUNY as a whole. Fraternities and sororities have a mixed perception among adults, such negatives as rush incidents,  hazing incidents, discrimination, and gender discrimination to name a few. But, of course this does not speak for all of these organizations. There are some who do not participate in events listed above and focus on what some would perceives as positive attributes. For example, scholarly activities or other goals without or not as much excessive drinking and partying. There is still inherent value to showing these off because you would have dedicated a part of your life to what you view as important. And this importance has strategic value for job applications and conversations. 

Speaking of lifelong conversation, we lack sports teams. Not only is being athletic good for the body, but also for social life. Not just those participating in the team, but overall school pride. More events being held would increase morale amongst students and I would say increase their quality of life with the given option. Being apart of the team can clearly build cooperation skills that will benefit you as a human for a lifetime. In your social life, communication is almost always key into having things work out smoother. If you happen to be a captain of a team, leadership skills are most likely needed to succeed in that position. And those dont have to stay with you in just a sport.

While this sounds like an open and shut case there is a study from the United Kingdom that has found a negative connotation with extracurricular activities. This of course is concerning. “It is interesting to note that the only significant correlations between student academic performance (measured by average grades) and levels of participation in learning activities are negative… It is hard to explain the negative correlations between grades and attending a teaching session (ρ = -0.17) (Boulton)”. An interpretation from that could mean students who try to better themselves in one department sacrifice their good standings in another. Of course this is not the only case nor a proper conclusion. Other factors could prevail such as lack of sleep, which is known to effect daily performance. For example a study in Poland stated, “The reduction in sleep time causes disruption in performing tasks: the sleep-deprived individuals require more time than usual for performance and they make more mistakes. Survey studies revealed a significant relation- ship between the duration and quality of sleep among car drivers and the number of road accidents (Orzeł-Gryglewska).” It is not a  stretch that students who are possibly sleep deprived for studying has the potential to backfire. Maybe not in all subjects, but maybe just one. But, then again this is the short term consequences, not the long term.

City Tech being inside the CUNY system have a lot of opportunities for the benefit of the students attending, such as internships and internship requirements in order to graduate. This really does boost the lives of the students. Though, I do understand that it doesn’t fit the term extracurricular activity if it is required. But, when it isn’t it gives you a leg up over your potential job competition. This will not always work, but it will help you in life. If it doesn’t land you job immediately, at least you got exposure and a possible connection in that field. You could have gotten an interview without the school, but the school has given you an easier opportunity for your benefit.

What has recently come to my attention is the school has a student government. If I have heard this before it has only been in passing and not much to think about. What do they do? How do you get into this? Have they ever sent an email, I’m sure they have somewhere. I have not met another student who ever even mentioned the words “student government”. But there is opportunity there, as already mentioned social skills and clear resume potential. Saying you were apart of your schools student government says a lot about your character. from an outsider perspective it shows you respect the institutions at your school. You appear as a safe and respectable person at least on paper. If you had a senior position, even better, president for example. Even if you weren’t in the student government, but you were president of a club that still means something. It says you ran and coordinated the club. If you got awards for that club, well fantastic. 

This is all to say that there are clear life long benefits and opportunities to having participated or plan to participate in extracurricular activities. What is illustrated is not a guarantee, but definitely can increase your odds into having success. Success in your personal, educational, and career life. So, why not take the leap and join an extracurricular?

Work Cited 

Boulton CA. Student engagement and wellbeing over time at a higher education institution. 

Hughes E, Kent C, Smith JR, Williams HTP, Marina Della Giusta, University of Reading. 

Boulton, November 27, 2019, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1371/

journal.pone.0225770

Orzeł-Gryglewska, Jolanta. CONSEQUENCES OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION. Department of 

Animal Physiology, University of Gdańsk, Publisher  August 25, 2009, Gdańsk, Poland 

http://oldwww.imp.lodz.pl/upload/oficyna/artykuly/pdf/full/2010/1_Orzel.pdf