Extracurricular Overload: One Staffer Gives Her Take

by Claire McMannes

Basketball, forensics, French Club, choir, and FFA. All of these extracurricular activities have given you something to do besides staring blankly at your homework, hoping it does itself. 

Yes, student activities are encouraged and look good on a college application, but what happens when they start to conflict with one another? After school activities can range from three hours or more, depending on what you are in, leaving some students stressed and not having enough time to complete their assignments due the following day.

Platteville high school student Erin Bowden (‘16) tells how exactly school and its activities affect students' stress levels.

Bowden says, "School affected the sport I played because I wasn't able to attend all of practices, leaving me behind. One practice, we learned some plays, and I wasn't there to learn them. We couldn't use those plays in the next game because I didn't know them."  School activities, while usually flexible when it comes to education, can leave students feeling somewhat stressed and cause conflict with the rest of the team if you are learning plays like Bowden was in basketball.

With extracurriculars and school work competing for students’ attention, it’s no wonder they’ve started to feel like they’re over-stretching. Recently Bowden brought to light a conflict between the April 17th state forensics date and a conference softball game. (Note that April 17th is later the same week music students will return from their Nashville trip.) This is the typical schedule for a highly involved student at PHS who finds sports taking over the scene. Bowden expresses her frustration, “I didn't offer not going to forensics or seeing if there was an alternative performance time because the [non-athletics] extracurricular activities always move aside. I think it is about time for that to change.”

The administration dealt with another double-booked event last month with a boys’ swim meet being scheduled on the same night that an orchestra concert was planned months in advance. Communication solved the issue with the athletes/musicians being able to catch their events at an earlier time before heading over to the concert.

Come to school early in the morning and you’ll see a lot of the same students working diligently to meet with forensics coaches, meeting for Key Club or Mock Trial, and rehearsing with extracurricular music groups like Blue Notes and Jazz Band. With all that’s going on in the non-athletic activity world, is it possible that students are being pressed for time even more in the mornings?

What’s an involved student to do besides make compromises? Madelyn White (‘15) says, “When I was in musical, balancing swimming with it could get kind of frustrating because it was a lot of running around. But since I had a ‘small-part’ in the play it worked out okay. If there’s ever a time where you really want to do something like musical and a sport just choose a smaller part or try to compromise and talk to your coach or director about it. They try to help you out as much as they can.”

If you ever feel over stressed and over worked just remember the key is to take out the things you can go without. By doing so you will become far less stressed and maybe even find something that peaks your interest more or just have more time to work on your assignments and focus solely on school.