As students across Canada are beginning their annual invasions to Staples to buy their brand new school supplies, they wonder in the back of their heads, “What to do?”
The quest for extracurriculars is one that many high school students are familiar with.
“What would look good on my university application or resume?”
“Which clubs do I have time for?”
“Which ones will I actually like?”
In the desperate race to try every extracurricular activity there is, they often miss out on the best ones. In an attempt to ameliorate the anguish on deciding what school clubs you ought to join, I’ve compiled a short list of three school clubs I’m involved with. I’ll tell you why they are great, and hopefully to encourage you to join in your school’s rendition of these amazing extracurriculars!
1. Debate Club
Teenagers are natural debaters. Whenever we fight with our parents about school, or with our friends about what’s the best sports team, our brains are working overdrive to come up with strong arguments to win the other side over! This is exactly what debate club is all about. Here, you debate with students from across Calgary about controversial and relevant issues. Through discourse, students vie for their opinions and are rewarded for being the most persuasive.
Not only is debating inconceivably enjoyable, it also has a lot of practical benefits:
-Debating looks amazing on a university application or resume, especially if you’ve worked hard and won a few awards.
-Being in debate that constantly challenges you to think about global issues and moral controversies, and then to vocalize those ideas through speech is an essential component to what you learn in Social Studies and English classes. I can guarantee that if you invest time in debate club, your marks will soar! If it’s any motivation, every Grade 10 student in my debate club aced their English oral finals.
-For many people, public speaking is worse than torture. Through debate, you become way more comfortable with standing in front of people and just talking. This has so many applications in real life, it is mind blowing. If you want to become a politician, lawyer, teacher, if you ever want to give a toast at a friend’s wedding, or if you ever do a job interview; debating is probably one of the most useful skills you will ever learn.
-Bragging rights. Yep, winning a medal in debate is nothing to scoff at, it’s a big deal! When people in your high school hear that you’ve dominated a tournament, people will respect you. I’ve had many teachers tell me how impressed they are by my performances in competitions. (Also it doesn’t hurt to receive some favouritism once in a while) If you work hard in debate club, people will view you more highly, and treat you with reverence.
2. Science Olympics
I know it might sound a tad nerdy, but Science competition-related clubs are where the action is at. In Science Olympics, you form teams of five like-minded friends and compete against teams from other schools in challenges regarding science, engineering, and technology. This involves solving testing your knowledge in physics/chemistry, making bridges out of string and paper, and making a robotic arm with stuff laying around your house! The possibilities are endless with science and I urge you to give it a try. If you are creative, innovative, or you’re just into science, Science Olympics is where it’s at.
-Science Olympics tests what you’ve learned in school, but applies it into real situations. What is the most efficient way to do this? How do I build this using the least amount of materials? These are the questions students often have to answer in science competitions. If you plan on doing any sort of occupation related to science (researcher, professor, doctor, engineer, etc.), what you do in Science Olympics is exactly what you’ll be doing in these fields.
-The awards you can get in science competitions (especially science fair) are numerous and substantial. Just for having a curious mind, institutions around Canada will give you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in scholarships for scientific achievement in competitions. This not always means getting first, but simply for being creative and motivated!
3. Volunteering Clubs (YVC, Amnesty Club, etc)
One of the most evident growing trends in the interest of youth is volunteering. Getting involved with the community and connecting with your fellow 
Calgarians is an idea with a value is growing exponentially every day. Every school offers some type of volunteering club, whether for recruiting general volunteers, asking for leadership, or fundraising for a cause. Not only do I think it’s important for youth to be actively engaged in their community, I also feel that it’s important that youth try new things. Volunteering allows everyone to experience a feeling of contribution and altruism through a diverse range of events, fundraisers, and activities. There are a lot of obvious practical reasons why you should volunteer (fantastic on resume, meet new people, improve scholarship applications), but I think it’s important that we remember why volunteering is so fulfilling. Give volunteering a try, and you’ll know what I mean. 😉
This short list is certainly not the only ones that exist. These clubs are just my personal favourites and I urge everyone to give them a try. If you are in any clubs that aren’t listed here that you feel passionate about, don’t be afraid to give me a shout in the comments below!
Going to second the recommendation of joining the debate club. If your school has one, definitely join it (but don’t be surprised when you get beat by Aberhart 😉 )
Excuse me, but I believe you forgot Biology club.
Biology club was definitely a close fourth! I’m looking forward to going this school year. : D
This is a really great list!
Of course, Debate depends on the university that you wish to go to.
Going to a minor, not-very selective one?
Debate is awesome! Do it for fun, but even if you didn’t, you probably still would get in.
Going to a more selective one with a bigger name?
Debate is awesome! It probably will increase your chances. But for someone that cares that much about college, going to UBC, Waterloo, McMaster of even McGill won’t be that hard.
And then comes the extremely selective, Ivy-Level ones.
Again:
Debate Is Awesome!
It will definitely increase your chances, but probably not by a lot. With schools like Stanford, Harvard and Yale, it is always Quality over Quantity, but one club won’t cut it! Nor would just clubs, either.
But again, this list is great! I would say another good idea would be to join the clubs that really interest you rather than just If-I-Join-This-I-Might-Get-Into-Harvard!