As students progress through middle school and high school they tend to join many extracurricular activities like band, theater, and athletics. With students being in multiple activities, they are often pressured to find time for both or to drop one.

“My freshman year [I was] in football. [I] definitely [felt pressure], especially by the coaches,” sophomore Rodrigo Villanueva said. “I felt like I was being pulled from playing because I was in the band.”

Students should not be forced out of activities that they enjoy just because it is difficult for teachers and coaches.

One of the main reasons that students are pushed towards one activity is because they have to split their time between the two activities. This problem is not on the students. The teachers and coaches need to have better communication, with methods to allow superiors to know that the student is at the other school-related activities and not sick or skipping. This also would help in the sense that they could try to reschedule rehearsals and practices on different days so the student would not have to miss at all.

With students putting all their effort towards one specific activity, it can be beneficial to reach that certain goal. However, times are evolving. For most students, to get into a good college or the college of their choice, it requires them to do multiple activities at once, for this shows responsibility and time management. Being in one specific activity does not stand out anymore to colleges. The way they see it, anyone can do a single activity. This almost forces students to do activities all across the board, but with teachers or coaches making them choose it can ruin students future plans for their high school careers and college applications.

Students should not be persuaded out of extracurriculars that they love. Coaches and teachers need to achieve better communication and encourage students about all the activities they are in.