I don’t know how many students have ever taken a walk around the Greater Nanticoke Area campus after classes let out, but I imagine that the answer would be very few. After all, what would be the point? Watching the teacher’s grade some papers before heading home themselves? Listening to the sounds of vacuum cleaners being started up throughout the lonely halls? Although these can be seen and heard around GNA after two o’clock, the truth is much more exciting. In just one afternoon while strolling around the building, one can see cheerleaders practicing their pep in the main hallway and Science Olympiad participants trying to make a machine out of toothpicks and marshmallows. Go to another part of, the school and the combined sound of concert band rehearsal and varsity basketball practice will fill your ears. No matter where you go, it will  soon become apparent that there is much more to GNA after-hours then meets the eye.

Greater Nanticoke Area is host to a wide variety of extracurricular activities, clubs, and organizations. Whether your interests lie in athletics, academics, art, or anything else, you can surely find a club that appeals to you. However, if the idea of spending time in school after the bell has rung you should consider the many benefits of pursuing extracurricular activities at GNA.

Individuals who are looking to attend college after high school should know that extracurricular activities are an important part of one’s college application. I can speak from experience when I say that in addition to contributing to a balanced resume, the experiences that I gained in extracurricular activities at GNA were helpful when writing the admissions essays for many of the colleges that I applied to.  Most college admissions officers share this point of view.

In a 2012 Q&a article with nytimes.com, Janet Lavin Rapelye, the dean of admissions at Princeton University was quoted saying that, “As for extracurricular activities, we recommend that students follow their individual interest in the special talents and performing arts, athletics, leadership activities and that they engage themselves civically” (Rapelye). To put it another way, to quote a college admissions adviser and published author Marjorie Hansen Shaveitz, “colleges care about the character of people they admit; therefore, what you do after school, during weekends and over the summers tell them a lot about the kind of person you are. When you think about it, you are what you do every day, every month, every year” (Shaevitz).

Extracurricular activities are beneficial on a much larger scale than that of the individual; that is to say, the entire school benefits from them. Extracurricular activities are a great way for students who might not normally interact throughout the day to get together and bond over a shared interest. Very few extracurricular activities at GNA are limited based on grade, so it is not uncommon to see freshman and seniors playing together on the same sports team or acting in the same play. Through extracurricular activities, students can form friendships that will span the entirety of their high school careers, and possibly  even longer. This ultimately creates a sense of unity among students and makes GNA a more welcoming and vibrant community.