Academics in a hyper-competitive culture like ours is stressful as it is. Then the unfamiliarity of the abroad application process overwhelms the teens with the added demand of extra-curricular activities (ECAs). It is strictly for this reason that many students, who are otherwise discouraged from such activities, are incentivised to explore. The most popular choices of Bangladeshi students are debating and olympiads. The most abundant ones include cultural and artistic hobbies. And the most participated-in ones are volunteering and campus ambassador programmes.
Unfortunately, there is a notion that the utility of ECAs is limited to abroad applications. So, anyone not doing an ECA as a passion abandons it if the abroad study plans are called off. This leaves an unnecessary wedge in the transition from college to varsity life within the country. Some of the potentially acquirable skills from these ECAs can make a difference in the academic or social context of a university fresher.
There are proper awareness facilities for the relevance of choice of ECAs in the sought-after majors for abroad aspirants. However, that is not the case here, mostly because these are not directly translated into marks that can give them an edge. Olympiad attendees will pursue STEM majors – is a no-brainer, the issue lies with the other ECAs that don’t have specific or feasible majors in the country. The added expectations to pursue STEM, even if they might end up in BBA or Social Sciences, conceals the utility of ECAs further. A student who is good at debating can translate that into critical analyses in the development sector – having studied Social Sciences. One who is good with extempore speech or does campus ambassador programmes is presentable and with good networking skills. Opting for marketing (not because it’s a status quo) can give him or her a head start in university life. Students underutilising the skills learnt from ECAs may not stand out from the competition because of an under-researched choice of (popular) major.
To repurpose, one must ensure that the skills learnt from an activity are transferable. Each activity, unbeknownst to many, comes with an array of soft skills, which are always transferable. Being a college club executive calls for teamwork and leadership. While one cannot sell oneself with such vague buzzwords, it will show in how one handles a project as well as the results. This can be leveraged to catch others’ attention. A student who likes to consume pop culture and write about it in a portal or page can use his wordsmithing capabilities to promote himself as a potentially well-performing copywriter. He can subsequently make his way into the marketing world besides his studies and leverage the valuable corporate experience later on.
Soft skills that make someone a people person not only make them a good fit for HR but also help them adapt to the new environment. Even hard-skill ECAs, like design freelancing, can help a fresher warm up to the crowd when he designs a batch of merchandise for the class. Such academic and social implications of ECAs, when kept in mind, make for a university life a student genuinely looks forward to.