What Extracurriculars Should High School Sophomores Do?

💡 Choosing Extracurricular Activities

10th grade is a time to continue your interests from freshman year and find out more about what you truly enjoy doing. Instead of stressing about college applications early on, take time throughout the year to explore your passions across both academic and nonacademic fields through clubs, self-initiated projects, and research without spreading yourself too thin.

✒️ Tips and Advice

Extracurriculars are only a tool to help explore interests beyond the classroom and truly find your purpose in the time that you have. Without specializing and closing yourself in a box, take high school as a chance to learn about different fields and passions before the more structured time of college and career begin.

A useful tip is to start researching different majors and fields for college and beyond to get an idea of your skillsets and compatibility with a specific career path.

Check out the list below of common extracurricular activities to explore the types of activities that correlate with different majors.

Seeking out leadership positions can be a good course of action to become more actively involved in the clubs and organizations that are offered by your school and beyond. In these scenarios, making your passion and commitment heard is crucial.

👍 List of Extracurricular Activities

Below is a short list for you to see activities to learn more about different majors and find your match. This is NOT a complete list, and you should be sure to find your own path to success! 🌟

Agriculture & Conservation

• Future Farmers of America (FFA)
• 4-H Clubs

Architecture

• Habitats for Humanity
• Drawing Portfolio
• National Art Honors Society
• University Summer Programs

Arts: Visual & Performing

• Art Portfolio
• Music Groups (Band, Orchestra, Choir)
• Theatre
• Art Competitions

Business

• DECA/BPA
• Business Competitions
• Starting a Small Business
• Speech and Debate
• National Business Honors Society
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Investing Club

Community, Family, & Personal Services

• Speech and Debate
• Tutoring
• Peer to Peer Mentoring
• Volunteering

Computer Science, Engineering, & Mathematics

• Hackathons/Coding Competitions
• Math Competitions (AMC AIME etc.)
• Robotics (VEX FTC FRC)
• Science Fairs
• University Summer Programs

Education

• Tutoring
• Volunteering
• Speech and Debate

English & Foreign Languages

• Writing Club
• National Language Honor Societies
• School Newspaper
• Theatre

Sciences: Biological and Physical

• HOSA
• University Summer Programs
• Science Fairs
• Volunteering
• Robotics (VEX FTC FRC)

Social Sciences & Law

• Speech and Debate
• Model UN
• Student Government
• Junior State of America (JSA)

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