Extracurriculars are one of the best ways to relieve stress. When I was in high school, I was on the swim team. For the two hours a day I was there, I was in heaven, because I didn't feel like I had the weight of schoolwork on my back. I was also a part of the newspaper and I felt that writing about a topic of choice relieved the stress of being forced to write about less interesting topics in class. I find that people who do not do any extracurriculars are the most stressed and the least happy.
Clubs and Sports also look great on college applications! Sometimes extracurriculars are what set you apart from the crowd. A college admissions committee member could be comparing your application with someone else's and the two of you could have the same academic standing, but then they notice that you participated and invested yourself in more extracurriculars. A few months later you open your mailbox and you find out you are accepted to that college. The key word is to "invest" yourself in that club or sport. In other words, put all of your effort into it because the achievements you make are also what colleges are looking for. For example, if you join the Science Olympiad, that's great, but it looks even better to be the captain or to win an event. The point is to not only do schoolwork to your best ability, but to do EVERYTHING to your best ability.
Another little tidbit I want to throw in is to just do it! I'm going to tell you a little story, from my high school experience, and hopefully you'll understand that it's okay to join something that you aren't sure about. It was sophomore year and one day after school, my friend John told me that he was going to a meeting. I asked him, "What meeting?" and he said, "It's for if you want to join the tennis team". Two seconds earlier I had no intention of joining the tennis team, but just because it sounded like fun to me, I went! Although I only did it that one year, it turned out to be a lot of fun. If I never decided to join that spring, it would have been the most boring time of my life.
You also have to learn not to be afraid of what people think. If it's something that even for a second you think you might enjoy, then join! If you don't like it then you can quit, but if it turns out that you like it then wouldn't you be happy that you acted on that instinct? Extracurriculars are also the best place to forge memories that will last a lifetime!
