Guide to Success: Why you need to be socially active?
Hello everyone, in today’s article I want to shed light on one of the most exciting topics for all ALWIUT students - social engagement.
Now, as per usual, I will be answering two important questions that you might be wondering about: “Why it is essential to participate in social activities?” and “How to choose the right club for you?”.
Without no doubt, there is a multitude of benefits that being socially active can bring to young students like us, however, as the title of this article is “guide to success”, I will mainly be focusing on those associated with academic performance. Interestingly, when it comes to establishing one’s academic career, social engagement plays one of the crucial roles, especially at the undergraduate level. Often, when still “green” high school students are applying to universities for the sake of embarking on their journey to success, what they care about most are numbers – indicators, such are: GPA, IELTS or SAT, which presumably, should help university authorities to differentiate between successful and less brilliant candidates. However, the reality sometimes might be different. To exemplify this, let’s imagine a hypothetical situation, where two or more students, vying for the same position are being compared by the admission committee; if both of them have the highest possible GPA and test scores, who would be chosen, in case if only one is to be taken. The answer to this question is simple, it is the one who has more achievements and is deemed to be a more “worthy” individual, who let’s say has a record of helping others as a volunteer, or maybe is a professional designer or photographer, who could contribute to the development of the university when accepted. Thus, participating in social activities and preferably, obtaining a valuable skill or a certificate, is valuable, as it sometimes can help you excel over students with better academic performance.
Now, when it comes to choosing an “organization” for yourself, there is no definite answer which one is best, as all people have different personalities and circumstances, so it really depends… Nevertheless, what I can suggest you is to do the following: attend sessions of some of the clubs, names of which evoke interest in you (dancing, drama, vocal clubs), then after understanding the good and bad sides (for you), just choose the one, or those that you like the most.
Finally, whether you are struggling to keep pace with school curriculum or are instead good at it but lack in terms of social participation, always try to improve both of those, as that is the key to getting a degree in a prestigious university.