by C. Mackenzie

Created on: December 01, 2007

A desk lamp makes an oval of pale light on an open textbook. Neat, narrow lines of text yawn from one corner of the page to the next. You stare at the same line that's been staring back at you for the past half hour. Your small dorm room feels empty and cavernous in the darkness. You hear a cricket chirp outside your window. Then you remember you're on the third floor, and conclude that your grip on sanity is slipping.

Even though the main focus of a college career is academic, devoting yourself exclusively to your studies can be exhausting and it can burn you out mentally. Fortunately, college has more to offer than library hours, all night caffeine binges and back-to-back exams. Every school offers a variety of extra-curricular activities, and getting involved in them can have benefits that not only help relieve academic tension; they can introduce you to great groups of people; provide experience in various social roles; and stack credentials at the same time.

-A necessary break

Some classes are interesting and some are boring; it's relative, but the odds are against your being so enthralled by your schoolwork that you're able to log consecutive hours of study time. In any case, most kinds of homework and studying get tiresome if it's what you spend most of your time on. Extra-curricular activities can provide a scheduled escape from the dry world of academia - whether it's in events, rehearsals or even meetings, they'll give you an opportunity to put something else on your mind as well as participate with your peers.

Most people thrive on having a diverse (not necessarily complicated) schedule. By planning out a whole day dedicated to studying, you're much more likely to get bored and distracted during your work and thus spend your time inefficiently. After a certain point, focusing on one thing to the exclusion of others shows markedly diminishing gains - you might improve yourself in that field to a small degree, but proportionately you'll lose out more in free time and the opportunity cost of trying out different things. But by interspersing your academics with an extra-curricular - a sport; musical program; club; internship; or simply going to the gym - you can refresh yourself and be better able to focus on your work when you return to it.

But everything needs balance; if you overload yourself with extracurriculars, you could find your grades suffering, and you might find yourself dealing with as much stress as you had boredom earlier.

-A fun way to socialize

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