All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and this adage holds so true, especially once you enter your graduation years. You might have been that studious face in your junior classes till date, but now it’s high time you take on some new challenges beyond your studies and develop your overall personality, right from building your soft skills to finding out the manger in you. Here is a list of how extra-curricular activities can transform your personality :

1. Builds your network

Every extra-curricular activity involves interacting with your juniors and seniors alike, as also your teachers. It helps you not only develop your communication skills but also helps you ask the right questions and become smarter in understanding how to get the right information. See your facebook friend list grow as you end up adding so many different sorts of people. And some of these people turn into your lifelong friends. :)

2. You learn to manage time

Extra-curricular activities= Extra time beyond academic curriculum

They involve staying back in the college after attending lectures, planning events, holding meetings and often demand more time than normal college hours. And that way you learn to manage your studies in the rest of the time and prioritize well.

3. Builds resume

A decent mark sheet along with a list of extra-curricular activities always stands out. Today’s employers do not just want a person with bookish knowledge, but want an all rounder. And that is how the world is changing. You have to be good at a lot of things than being a jack of one trade. The world is becoming flatter and your competition now isn’t limited to a specific domain only. Gone are the days when employers wanted a purely technical person, the employer now wants a techie who can communicate well with leadership experience!

4. Opportunity to explore interests

I’m sure you are good at something. And college activities help you to figure that out. You get to choose whether you want to be a part of the college publicity team or the student council or whether you would be happy making a website for the technical fest or would like to publish articles in the college annual magazine. Opportunities are many, grab them!

5. Builds your skill sets

A techie will learn new things if he takes up the responsibility of the next cultural fest website. So will an outgoing person learn to communicate effectively by being a part of the sponsorship team. Skill building is a never ending process and why not get started from this stage itself?

6. Makes you creative

It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. And you get a chance to execute your ideas after sessions of brain storming. It brings out the creative kid in you, which studies otherwise won't.

7. Teaches you to be selfless

My personal experience has taught me that students do not participate in the extra activities like the college societies and student council because-

'Dusron ke liye muft mein kaun kaam karega yar'

There’s a serious problem with this mindset. These students see just one side of the coin- their time, their energy and the fear that their studies might get affected. The flip side, the innumerable benefits, they are blind to it. They are so engaged in competing for marks that they forget the life beyond academics. And trust me, it’s not a cool set of people to hang out with. A friend of mine, placed in a good company today regrets not making the best use of her college days. You sure don’t want to be in her shoes.

8. Best stress busters

The fun times, the joy of spending time in college after college hours and having the time of your life, parting, meetings, responsibilities, everything is an experience in itself.

9. You become a team player

Any activity involves team work. It teaches you to listen before you speak, understand others and become a problem solver.

So, Explore. Discover. Grow.