Student drops extra-curriculars to keep up with schedule

By Beth Brookie
<[email protected]>

At the start of her junior year, current-senior Jennifer Siriwardane was an eager member of House and held the position of the HiLite’s front page editor. By the end of second semester, Siriwardane had quit both of these time-consuming activities.

“By the time I got to winter break,” Siriwardane said, “I realized I was completely burned out. I just couldn’t keep up anymore.”
Siriwardane is just one of the many students who become so involved in extracurricular activities that they overextend themselves to a breaking point. Many students spend so much time padding their resume and attempting to fulfill the school’s mantra of becoming involved that they devote time to too many activities which they are not fully avid about.

Counselor Shelly Rubinstein said students should choose only a few extracurricular activities to which they can fully devote themselves. “It’s important that you choose your activities carefully,” she said. “Choose only ones that you feel are important to you and that affect your life in a positive way.”

“When I stopped being a part of journalism and House, I think it was because I realized I just wasn’t passionate about them,” Siriwardane said. “I realized there were other things I was involved in, like Lifelines, that I would rather devote my time to. I just didn’t want to overextend myself.”

Rubinstein said a possible motive to students participating in countless clubs and groups may be the desire to impress colleges. According to her, students who are applying to competitive schools, especially the Ivy League schools, may work much harder to participate in several activities. “State schools, because you’re a taxpayer, will look at you more lightly,” she said. “And if you’re really competitive for admissions at a private school or an Ivy League, then your extracurricular activities are really important.”

Siriwardane said she has seen many students begin to burn out by their junior year, which is unfortunately the most critical year when applying for colleges. She said, “I think the first two years of high school everyone has a lot of energy. By junior or senior year, you’re in a lot of APs or lots of activities, and you kind of get a whole new routine and it can just be overwhelming.” She said she thinks this overload of academics, plus extracurricular activities, is what causes students to burn out.
Unfortunately, this lack of activities may negatively affect a college’s view of a student, according to Rubinstein. “I think (colleges) notice if you don’t replace those lost activities with something else. But it depends on what you replace it with,” she said.

Many colleges, including Harvard and Stanford, have begun to advocate the “Time Out or Burn Out” philosophy, encouraging students to take a break from overloading their schedules and learn to prioritize. Both Rubinstein and Siriwardane encourage a same type of policy. Rubinstein said, “I think it’s like a balancing game. The right amount of extracurriculars depends on how a student feels they can handle their courses and balance them with a few extra activities.”

Siriwardane said, “There’s so many new clubs and stuff going on at the beginning of the year. Kids just need to be careful that they don’t get too excited and load up on everything. They shouldn’t try so hard to make their resume look good and instead should focus on what they truly enjoy doing.”

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5 signs a teen is burning out

1. Insomnia
2. Diet change
3. Impulsive behavior
4. Neck or back pain
5. Drinking or smoking

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