By Shehu Uthman
Every student steps into campus with the general orientation that academic excellence guarantees success in life. The encouragement is to study hard, perform well in class, get good grades and a high-paying job is assured. It's the most traditional advice students receive almost always, until reality shifts to another dimension.
Now there's more to schooling than the desperate pursuits for academic grades. While being serious with learning in class provides the theoretical foundation for any profession, participating in extracurricular activities offers significant advantages that enhance employability, future prospects and personal development.
Especially in a country where the labour market is extremely saturated and challenging, personal effectiveness through engaging recreational activities in campus positions students to better realisation of explorable opportunities. It comes with a clear-cut determination, goal-focusing and readiness to risk everything in order to achieve desirable goals.
In this wise, research suggests that well-balanced participation, typically between one to ten hours a week, leads to better outcomes than non-participation. Unfortunately, many students fail to realise this until after graduation, when regret has already set in.
If truth be told, I believe that if you do not do enough for yourself beyond your books, you may regret it after graduation. Looking at life after graduation, you will find out that the labour market is well saturated. Our society is now tired (disregard) of youth and school graduates who can’t offer anything in the form of a skill, and are waiting for employment from the government.
It's the best time to know that our country is after graduates who have skills and will only utilise the skill after graduation, thereby employing the unemployed and not waiting for employment. It's now obvious that many students who take extracurricular activities seriously during undergraduate have the chances to earned even before graduation and that shifts the burden of expenses from their parents as they now earn by themselves and have no need of calling home.
That doesn't only save their parents money but also reduces unemployment in Nigeria. You could see that such a need does not work any longer. Would you imagine that such kind of students are those performing well if not best, academically compared to their peers. What I'm saying is neither coming out of my pocket nor an hearsay assertion.
For instance, Sherifdeen Ahmad Sawe come to mind as reference point to this topic. During his undergraduate level as a law student, he's considered a purpose-driven student who opted for campus journalism.
Few things I remembered he often said to us at editorial board meeting is: “Whatever is worth doing is worth doing it the best. I'll advise you all to take campus journalism not just as a extracurricular activities but a serious business.” This encouragement stayed with me ever since because I see him as a true reflections of what he advised us.
Looking at Sherifdeen Ahmad’s remarkable achievements through journalism, it strengthens my conviction to regard extracurricular activities. Therefore, for those that had been brainwashed by others not to participate in extracurricular activities as it will affect their academics should have a rethink now before it too late.
Learning is not limited to the classroom. The other activities that take place on campus are equally important. If you do not participate in them, you will miss out on valuable experience. As graduates, our community expects us to be well-rounded individuals, and that cannot happen without engaging in activities beyond academics.
But Is Extra-curricular Activities Meant for Every Students?
As a student, you understand yourself better than any other person. Students are of different kinds, including those that are naturally genius, the average ones, and the struggling ones.
Students who are genius will engage in extracurricular activities and still perform well academically. Despite any pressure, they still find their way round to standout from others. They can handle multi-tasking in whatever kind and this give them the opportunity to gains exposure, overcomes phobia, and kills stage fright completely.
The average students are also excellent, but they must balance their academics and extracurricular activities within the framework of time management. They often find a careful balance. And for the struggling ones, it is advisable for them to partake in extracurricular activities but concentrate more on their academics.
Regret of not Being Involved in Extracurricular Activities
Well, I have now come to realise that many students have regretted not participating more in extracurricular activities. Some personally regret not joining intellectual clubs during their time in school. To this day, they have the phobia of speaking in public, and they should have overcome it when they were in school. Some will not participate and will still not perform well academically while some will fairly do.
Having interacted with a handful of graduates, many have admitted that those of their colleagues who partook in extracurricular activities have more advantages over them. They wish they could have joined many intellectual clubs.
Sometimes that sense of remorse hits you hard. You know, it hurts when some people are sharing knowledge or talking from their experience: the knowledge they acquired through participation and you just keep quiet and have nothing to say. That will make you feel like a fool, and you will start having second thoughts.
For that reason, for those in UG1 or UG2, this is the best and earliest stage to start and develop interest. At that stage, you can know if you can make it till the very end. But nevertheless, you need awareness and orientation so that from there you may develop interest.
Weighing the Advantages and Disadvantages
Generally, whatever has advantages has disadvantages. You just have to weigh them and decide which is more worth it for you.
For the advantages, participating in extracurricular activities is quite beneficial. You get to meet new people, learn to interact with them, learn to solve real-life situations, and probably learn more about human nature.
It is overall a beautiful learning adventure, I would say. You learn whatever the activity teaches. Depending on the activity, it is also a good boost to your confidence and helps tackle the fear of failure.
What about the disadvantages of not joining?
Each activity has its proposed benefits and impact. Not participating in them directly means you are not learning those things at that time. The good thing is that it is never too late. Whatever you do not learn in school, you can always learn it in the outside world.
Many students did participate in activities a few times, and they are really glad they did. I learnt a lot. While they think participating more would have definitely helped them in many ways, they struggled with balance, and eventually had to prioritise their academics. They do not feel bad for not participating more than they did.
Moreover, I advise anyone contemplating participation to do so, even if just a little. Show up once, twice, or thrice. If you cannot do more than that, it is fine. However, I have never had someone who regretted not joining at all but it's not surprising if there is, any.
What the Research Says
To support these lived experiences, here is some data I came across. The academic and health impacts of non-participation are real.
On academic impact: Non-participants often have GPAs 0.5 points lower than their involved peers. Students who participate miss two to three fewer percentage points of school than their non-participating peers. Beyond attendance, extracurriculars help build responsibility, time management, and social support, all of which contribute to better academic outcomes.
On health and well-being: Students who never participate or stop activities have higher rates of psychological distress and lower self-esteem. The same period saw daily social media use among young people jump from 26% to 85%, highlighting a cultural shift away from enriching hobbies toward passive scrolling.
Research dating back to the early 1930s has consistently shown that students who participate frequently in ECAs tend to have higher grades, better test scores, and more positive educational experiences. One study found a 2% increase in academic performance of participants and a 10% increase in their expectations of attaining a better CGPA compared to non-participants.
The Importance of Going Through the University
The importance of participating in extracurricular activities cannot be overemphasised. By engaging in those activities, you not only go through the university, but the university also goes through you.
Extracurricular activities connect you with students from different departments, with different backgrounds and life experiences. There are particular skills that you gain while joining intellectual clubs and participating in things like mooting competitions, skills that cannot be gained in classrooms only.
Final Advice: Balance Is Everything
Overall, I advise students to try new things, have new experiences, and participate in these activities when you can. However, balance is important in whatever you do. Learn to balance your extracurricular activities with your academics.
Try your very best so that your activities do not cause irreversible harm to your academics or cause you regret. Because even though some people say "school na scam," you are still spending money to be in this school. So why not make your stay worth it?
Not engaging in extracurricular activities does not mean you will graduate with a first class, and engaging does not mean you will fail. It only depends on the usage of your time. He who wants a first class must be dedicated and committed to whatever he is doing and must also try to balance things up.
Remember that remorse and regrets are real. The earlier you start, the better. You should always engage yourself, even if not every time, but once in a while, so that you will at least have an idea of what you are doing or what you are facing. Even though there is a saying that too much of everything is bad, at least it will be in your favour if you can try these things out.