Extracurricular Activities in Elite Schools

Most elite schools heavily value extracurricular activities, such as sports and community services, alongside academic excellence. Takau English School is no exception. It emphasizes academics, arts, and athletics in the school culture and aims to shape students to be balanced from different perspectives. Within the school curriculum, all 9th-grade students are required to take a physical education (PE) class. Furthermore, there are abundant opportunities to participate in competitive sports (such as swimming, basketball, etc) after school. Art-wise, the school not only has sufficient opportunities for students to participate in both visual and performing arts but also invites artists from around the world to perform at the school. Takau English School also greatly encourages students to engage in community services.

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Lin has been at Takau English School since pre-school. She participates in a variety of extracurricular activities while also holding high expectations for her academic performance. In the interview, she mentioned that the school is very “social service-oriented” because this concept is really popular in their country. They have to do many different types of services, including “creativity services,” “action services,” and “normal kind of services.” The school provides a lot of service trip opportunities to support education in underdeveloped areas of the country. For two years, she taught underprivileged children English, which is part of the school’s service programs. And, on her own, she also did community services outside of school. She had taught underprivileged Hispanic kids English when she was staying in the United States. Besides, when a disaster happened in their city, Lin and her friends volunteered at a relief center and helped victims there. She admitted that participating in community services helps her learn about cultures different from her own and allows her to meet people from different social classes. She really enjoyed doing these. 

In addition to community services, Lin also engages in sports and arts to a great extent. She is on the soccer and volleyball teams in school. Outside of school, she is in a youth group and plays piano in the band there. She spends a lot of time at the youth group, so she could not go to extra practices or spend much time with her friends on the weekends. For a while, people around her could not understand why she participated in so many activities until they found that she truly enjoyed these activities. It also took her a while to find a balance between all the activities. She used to feel too overwhelmed and wanted to quit. However, her bonding with other members of the teams made her want to stay, and eventually, she successfully found a balance between her extracurricular activities, social life, and schoolwork. She acknowledged that sports stood out to her when she was asked to reflect back on her educational experiences. She described her soccer team as “a big family” with a “really good supporting system.” She recalled the encouragement from her coach and teammates and her experience from being a bench to an MVP, and she expressed great appreciation for the team. 

In conclusion, in elite schools, students are required to be successful in not only academics but also extracurricular activities. They strive to find a balance between these and their social life. Elite schools try their best to train students to become “balanced” people.