The friendships and bonds you develop during school also play a significant role in shaping your experience. Making friends at school can however be more of a challenge for some than others. Whether you are new to the school, a little shy or things have gone south in your existing friendship circle, getting involved in a range of school activities is an excellent way to meet other students who share a common interest of yours. After all, it is a lot easier to start up a conversation with someone you know you already have something in common with! Personally, I felt grateful to have found a group of people who not only accepted but also encouraged me to pursue whatever I felt passionate towards. It certainly helped me to come out of my shell and feel more confident. I strongly believe that acceptance, coupled with encouragement, has the potential to be incredibly empowering.
Whilst getting involved in school activities can help to create a positive learning environment and enrich your time at school overall, it also has the ability to prepare you for the real world. It provides you with an array of opportunities to explore and develop various skills, talents and traits that will serve you well in the future, regardless of your career choice. Even if you are unsure of exactly what it is that you want to do when you finish school, exposing yourself to numerous opportunities to get involved will no doubt come in handy. Rather than choosing to only take part in activities that you feel will directly assist you in progressing further down a particular career path, open yourself up to the possibility of taking part in something that genuinely sparks your interest. All skills you learn in school and throughout life for that matter are transferable. I may not have pursued a career in dance, but being a dancer and choreographer in my school plays taught me a lot about leadership and teamwork, two skills that are necessary and highly regarded in the workforce!
Igniting Your School Spirit
Perhaps you are eager to get involved but find yourself unsure of where to start, or maybe this is the first time that you have thought about taking part in a school activity or initiative? Now that I’ve covered a range of benefits associated with showing school spirit, it’s only fair that I also share my tips for getting involved! I recommend that you start by finding out what sort of opportunities your school provides for students to get involved and consider whether any of them interest you. Your teachers are often a great place to start because they will likely have a good idea of what is being offered. Then, to help you filter through the list of opportunities, consider not only the things that you enjoy, such as your hobbies, and the skills you possess, but also causes that you feel passionate towards. Choosing something that you feel strongly towards, means that you will feel personally invested and will be more likely to remain committed to it throughout the year.
While every school is different and may not offer the same opportunities for their students, it is always an option to think about starting up a new group or club and recruiting members. Starting something new shows initiative and also provides other students with an opportunity to get involved. When I was in high school, my best friend and I decided to raise money for a charity. After an intense class discussion about the fact that many children in developing countries are deprived of access to education, we decided to raise money to support an organization that helps to send many of these children to school. We ended up selling blue ribbons to our peers and teachers that were to be worn on their collars for the week, in an attempt to show their support for a cause we felt strongly towards. What started as two of us cutting and pinning ribbons in my bedroom, became something that more and more of my friends decided to get involved in.
If you don’t find yourself being internally pulled towards any particular cause, yet you are still looking for something to get involved in at school, then the school play is an excellent option! I used to think that to be part of the school play meant that you had to enjoy performing, however not everyone enjoys getting up on stage and shining under the spotlight in front of large numbers of people. The school play offers every kind of role, each with varying levels of commitment. Importantly, they don’t all require you to foster a love for performing. If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty and want to exercise your creativity, then helping out with designing the set is always a fun option! If you happen to be tech savvy, another important role is being in charge of the lighting and music. Speaking of music, did I mention that the school band plays an important role and is another way to get involved? I may not have been known for my musical talents at school, considering I did only learn how to play the piano up until the age of eleven, however for those of you who spend a significant portion of your time afterschool rehearsing your musical instrument, the school band is an excellent way to showcase your musical talents! Whatever role you choose, the school play is a microcosm for showcasing skills in creativity, writing, performing, technology and more!
Of course, watching and cheering for your peers on opening night is also a form of school spirit. Never underestimate the importance of showing up to support your school in all its events. Attending charity drives, your school fête or important matches and games are all ways of getting involved in all that your school has to offer. Just because you are not hosting, does not mean you are not helping! Being present and taking the time out of your busy study schedule to attend important events at school will leave you with lasting memories and help to create a sense of belonging.
Every day, as the lunch bell would sound, my friends and I would pack up our books, grab our food from our lockers and head to the school yard where we would all meet. Every friendship group would have their own usual meeting spot and to the fifteen of us, ours was prime real estate. We would all sit in a circle, eating our lunch and catch each other up on the latest stories and events that happened during class that morning. Despite the occasional disagreement between a few of us – something that was bound to happen when you’re talking about fifteen teenage girls – we all got along and I was lucky to have such great friends throughout school.
It was only when I started my second-last year of school that all of a sudden I felt as though I lost interest in the daily chit chat at lunch and started to retreat into my shell. I became more quiet than usual and didn’t feel as though I had much to contribute to the conversations that everyone was having… It all began shortly after a few of the girls in my friendship circle moved to another school, resulting in a change in the dynamics of the group. A lot of my friends started hanging out with other students in my year at lunch and shifted friendship circles. I was still close with a lot of them, but I didn’t know their new friends and so I didn’t follow to sit with them at lunch. At first, I felt upset and resisted the social changes that were happening around me. I missed having a tight-knit friendship group. Although I could have continued to allow myself to stay focused on the fact that I didn’t feel as though I belonged to any one particular group, I decided instead on changing my outlook. I became grateful for all of the close friends I did have – even if I didn’t happen to share the same social circle with many of them anymore. I used my situation as an opportunity to get to know the other students in my year that they were friends with and alternated between sitting with one group of people one day, and another the next. Not feeling as though I ‘belonged’ to a particular group was actually quite liberating because I felt as though I could hang out with whomever I wanted on any given day. I ended up befriending a lot of the people that my friends would sit with and over time, some became close friends of mine whom I still keep in touch with today.
By the time I started my final year at school, many of the social barriers that I perceived had come down. No one really had a ‘group’ anymore and everyone was friendly with one another. In fact, we would spend much of our