User:Rw26239/sandbox

High School
A place to experiment and build a concrete foundation for further education. Students can join various clubs such as student government, athletics, and science olympiad to make one well rounded and diversified. Participation in these clubs do not only boost the resume for the college applications but will also provide essential skills they can use in the future. These skill include teamwork, organizational skills, leadership, critical thinking, and social skills. Early development of these skills allows the student to hone and sharpen them during their time in upper education. This can lead to greater academic performance as the students focus isn't on skill development rather it is on academic performance. All of which allows for a smoother transition into college.

Benefits
Participating in such clubs can impact the academic and social performance of the student involved based off of their level of involvement. The higher the involvement, such as founders or leaders, the better off the student will be. Skills such as academic autonomy, cultural participation, educational involvement, life management, and establishing and clarifying purpose increase in direct relation to level of involvement. There is an advantage to starting in clubs earlier rather than later. Students who participate in club activities their freshman year have a greater chance of continuing their participation their senior year. Due to this increasing time spent interacting within the club, it was also found that students who stay involved are more likely to be moved up the hierarchical chain of power i.e. member to treasurer to president. These board positions, while hard to achieve, can lead to substantial benefits to the student in both the long and short term. In the short term, the student will be exposed to unique challenges that will force the student to voice their opinion as well as making critical decisions. A new yet exciting change of pace as the student is able to make a larger impact on the club. By achieving such positions, the students can make a positive changes in ways that they see fit or in ways to improve the quality and caliber. Both the student and the club benefit from such actions, the club will build off of the new leadership and the student will mature. When looking at the long term effects, these skills learned will help the student in upper level classes as well as applying to jobs and post graduate programs, which is the next step in the student's career. This can help the student by providing more credentials so he/she can apply for upper level positions and schools. Additional advantages such as the ethical reasoning behind the student is also heightened. Those who were involved are more racially aware and tend to have a stronger purpose and directionality to life. In addition, there is greater personal growth both in the workplace and mind as well as giving back to the community in the form of volunteering.

Disadvantages
On the other side, spending so much time in a club can effect the student's study. Clubs do come with some type commitment, so taking time away from studies in order to fulfill the clubs commitment can hinder academics. Some clubs even require a traveling aspect where a student must not only devote time but also weekend and breaks. This can be time that students can be spending with family, friends, or even time to themselves. There is also risk in committing to the club like whether it is worth the time put in. Noting that students do pursue certain clubs for resume purposes, some leaders of the clubs might not be as dedicated as others. This can hinder the quality and purpose of the club thus wasting the time of the members. This lack of quality does leave the door open for the student to correct and improve it. While this isn't the case for all clubs, understanding the quality, vibe, and emotions the leaders present can give valuable insight on how the club will perform. Another unseen disadvantage is the cost of participation. For clubs that tend to travel within or out of the state are not typically funded by the university or college. A true problem to have as a college student as not only does one have to pay to attend such schools but in addition one must pay to travel within the club. Clubs do tend to provide ways for the student to gather money such as fund raising, drives, or club hosted activities. Yet those methods take time, and time used in a club is time lost in academics. Despite money, the idea of travel can either deter or attract certain students. On one hand it does provide the student to explore the world through a college setting, on the other hand it does take time and money to complete such trips which is ultimately up to the student on whether the trip is worth those sacrifices.

How to get involved
Campuses offer a variety of ways to introduce incoming and current students to the student activities that are held on campus. Tactics such as involvement fairs are used which are typically where a club is designated a booth and in that booth members and a poster board is present. From there, students are able to walk through these booths, chatting and learning what the clubs are about. A quick and efficient way for a student to talk to a lot of clubs in a short amount of time to figure out how they can get involved. These fairs are normally held once a year typically in the first half of the first semester. Websites are also used that allow the student to input key words or phrases to search and filter clubs within the university. From there, the user can then gather contact information, read quick biography's about the club, and look at photos to get a sense of the club. Other ways of getting involved is through friends, word of mouth, other clubs, or even through flyers and posters around campus.

National(Addition to Types of Student Activities on Original Page)
National clubs refer to clubs and programs that travel throughout the United States. These clubs help and provide aid to other parts of the United States as well as providing exposure to the students themselves. A unique opportunity to travel the world while maintaining the college setting.


 * Habitat for Humanity
 * Honors Across State Boarders
 * Engineering Without Boarders
 * Global Brigades UConn

Increasing Social Network
Students can find it difficult to make friends with random people. Participating in clubs allows students to find common ground between other which can hopefully start a friendship. These friendships are essential in college as they provide a place for social interaction, others to study with, people to eat with, and more.

Networking
Meeting people and creating connections provide opportunities in the future when searching for jobs. Even if the connection is weak, the more connections one has the higher the chance he/she has when job searching. Those connections can either direct or recommend their friends to those who are hiring in hopes to land a job.

Resume
A resume is a list of accomplishments an individual has achieved throughout their lifetime that they wish to include when applying for a job. The resume and quality of it is essential when applying as it is a direct representation of the individual it belongs to. Participation in clubs and organizations allow the student to add that information to the resume and in turn making it stronger. If the student can reach upper level positions within the club, that too can make it onto the resume.

Lack of downtime:
Not participating in clubs is dangerous as it increases the amount of down time the student has. A deceiving problem to have as if a student feels that he/she has more time to complete work they might push it back decreasing their use of time and increasing their procrastination. Also having a more structured schedule allows the student to have a consistency throughout the day which can be essential to having rhythm throughout the days.