Is being part of a school club worth it?

As a grade schooler, I always found my seniors intriguing - they all seemed so talented, their lives so put-together. But the one thing that fascinated me the most was their access to a part of school life that I didn't have: clubs.

This fascination eventually became a fixation on the goal of one day becoming a club president. It was a storied position, one accompanied by fun new experiences, opportunities, and most of all, prestige. By the time it happened, however, it felt a bit more down-to-earth.

There are plenty of benefits to being a president, or even an active committee member. However, running a club might not be the dream for everyone, or as impactful in the long-term as we might hear. To get the full scoop on whether it's something worth putting so much effort into, I spoke to students from committees of a diverse range of schools about their experiences.

The good

As young people, we all want to feel that we add something valuable to the world. Becoming debate club president and teaching juniors everything I know validates the time I've spent on the activity, even after my time with it is finished. Similarly, for Tasfia Ahammed, founding president of the Maple Leaf Cultural Club, one of the most important aspects of her experience is feeling that she started a legacy others could follow.

"I actually promoted our culture, and started something new," she reminisced. "I would love to make people more aware about our roots, so I really hope to continue with this goal in the future."

On a personal level, there is a lot to gain. "I became a lot more responsible. I was always a troublemaker, but after I became president, I had to learn how to fix problems, deal with different situations. Being relied on was difficult, but rewarding."

For Ayaan Shams Siddiquee, former general secretary of the Josephite Language & Reading Club, the biggest thing he enjoyed was the people. "I made a lot of amazing friends. These were people I'd done classes with for years, but things like going together to Katabon to get crests made at 10 PM - how could the bonds not grow, right?"

The best club memories for a lot of people tend to be of having achieved something really meaningful. Ayaan shared his from the JLRC Language Festival 2020: "It was a Friday morning. We were looking down from the school balcony, expecting around 200 people - 600, 700 people showed up. It was like, wow, we really didn't fail."

The bad, and the difficult

The most obvious con of being active in clubs is that it can take a lot of time, energy, and effort which you might not even have to spare if you already have a lot of other commitments. It's important to realise that every person has a different workload they can sustainably handle, and if all this responsibility sounds too stressful for you, it might not be worth risking your wellbeing for.

Other negatives could be interpersonal. A common concern across those I spoke to was unhealthy competitiveness between clubs or "club politics" - often involving favoritism by moderators. For Ayaan, an additional difficulty was having to deal with tough situations as a leader where he had to deal with problems involving his own friends.

Ahnaf Ahmed, senior executive of the Business Club at Bir Srestha Noor Mohammad Public College, takes a pragmatic view. "To be a good president, you need charisma, strong leadership. You can't be too harsh or too lenient to your juniors, and you need to teach them everything they need to know before expecting them to succeed."

What to do in the future?

One of the biggest questions is whether clubs will actually be useful in the future: for entering university and beyond.

Ahnaf gives a student perspective. "If you want to to go to a public university, it might not be worth it. They don't consider your extracurriculars, just the entrance exams. Even if you join clubs at university, certain clubs, like academic ones, might be more prioritised. On the other hand, it's a really good extracurricular for applying abroad, or even to private universities, since they tend to value the boost to their reputations from successful university clubs."

To get an educated opinion, I reached out to Sauda Musharrat. An alumnus of American International University, Bangladesh, she is currently pursuing her MS in Integrated Design & Media at New York University.

At AIUB, she was Vice-Captain at the Robotics Club, even going to the USA as part of the international University Rover Challenge.

According to her, at university, you should pick a club that challenges you and provides many opportunities to learn. The process of moving from a STEM-specialised club into a master's degree and work was made easier since her resume and references from network connections were academically and professionally relevant. She explained: "The tougher the experience is, if it becomes a success story for you - teaches you skills you need, as well as logistics, campaigning, management, how to get sponsorships, so on - it is really, really valuable."

School clubs, to her, were relevant only for applying to university at an undergrad level.

So with all this information, what conclusion can we draw?

Is it worth it?

Some people choose to simply not participate in clubs at all, and others find the experience deeply personally fulfilling. In the end, it comes down to what is right for you, as well as considering whether your labour will reap any long-term benefits for you.

If you are someone who wants to study abroad at the undergraduate level, it might be a great idea to try to become a school club president or part of a committee. However, unless you can really stand out by your achievements to an admissions officer, it might not be a valuable investment. In that case, there are plenty of alternative extracurriculars you could explore.

Ultimately, you should not make a decision which seems like it will "benefit" you if it is harming your mental and physical health to do so. All I can tell you is:

If you think it'll make you happy, go for it!

Nadera Naeema Ohi is a student at Maple Leaf International School.