Page 4 - Personal Portfolio

A.2 Extra - Curriculars

Most of today’s post-secondary programs require well-rounded students, hence they ask
for what extra-curriculars students have been a part of. For most students, it’s simply another
task to fulfill in preparation for university/college, but what we generally don’t understand,
happens to be the importance of extra-curriculars. This unit in the course has taught me exactly
that, and in doing so, it taught me how I can make better decisions in regards to the extra-

curricular activities I choose to partake in the future. For starters, extra-curriculars promote
valuable leadership skills that can be gained from experience, in addition to a number of other
enriching qualities post-secondary institutions look for. Someone who not only helps a
coordinated group, but sets them in the right direction through positive reinforcement is
essentially a person who demonstrates leadership. Activities such as sports, clubs and even some
competitions which require teamwork help in the development of leaders, and without these
types of activities, there are not many opportunities for people such as myself to learn how to
become a leader. An example of an extra-curricular that teaches leadership would be the robotics

team, in which I learnt how to build upon, utilize and develop different interpersonal skills (these
are further expanded upon in my first reflection, refer to Appendix A). Using these skills, I
helped our team, (which only consisted of new members like myself), not only plan the design
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for our robot, but build and compete at an international tournament where we came 16 place.
Other extra-curriculars come with the same types of potential, and by knowing what skills I want

to improve upon, I can easily choose to participate in the activities that would benefit me the
most. All in all, this course has taught me that by choosing better decisions, I can increase the
positive impact that extra-curriculars provide, hence setting me up for a path of success in more
than just my academic endeavors.

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