I had very little professional work experience prior to college. After coming to campus and shopping around a few student organizations, I discovered a world of opportunity through the connections possible through joining student orgs. Staying in these clubs throughout the year turned out to be some of the best decisions I made in college.

With the help of the new connections formed through my extracurriculars, I secured an internship for my freshman summer and found another one for the following fall. Without any of these extracurriculars, none of this luck would have played through — and GPA played little role. 

Unfortunately, too many students fear getting involved in extracurriculars due to time commitments that might jeopardize their dream GPA. For non-academic focused activities, this is a valid concern. However, the benefits of such exhaustive extracurriculars can pay off significantly more than a higher GPA would. 

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Extracurriculars are some of the best ways to get involved on campus. They connect like-minded individuals with unique opportunities to transition into college life. They also allow students to explore their interests, improve their academic performance and build their resumes. Perhaps most importantly, extracurriculars offer some of the most important tools for career progression within college and beyond. 

Understandably, students may shy away from extracurriculars because of the intimidating time commitments. The usual reason is that they won’t have enough time for “real” academics. With more extracurriculars, students have less free time, meaning less time to focus on academics. From the reasons already mentioned, we should recognize that this is not a very good investment. 

“The only thing I tend to see being a huge hindrance in student organization involvement is time,” said Director of Student Activities at the Division of Student Affairs Sade Dawson-Love. “Students that don’t feel they have the time because they choose to also work . . . It always comes down to, ‘Do I really have time to dedicate?’” 

Getting over this hump can lead to better time management and a better resume. Not to mention, GPA has become an understated factor in resume building anyway. 

To students with their eyes on graduate school, GPA may be nonnegotiable. Fortunately, GPA is just one of the many factors behind most graduate admissions processes. 

The University of Texas’ Dell Medical School, among many others, says that its admissions process incorporates unique features, “not just a set of numbers on a page.” 

“I think it’s really important, especially looking towards careers in the future, to build upon your other extracurricular interests,” said business sophomore William Lawrence, who is currently a member of the Undergraduate Real Estate Society

Though it may be tempting to spend most of your time at college grinding away for straight As, it is far more important to create an identity outside of academics. 

There are very few classes that can teach professionalism, build connections and encourage exploration that are as fun as extracurriculars. Extracurriculars offer all of these without the price of a class.

When you graduate from UT, what do you want to look back on: your GPA, or the experiences you had on campus? Hopefully your on-campus experience, as it will foster lifelong connections, decisions and experiences.

Laky is a finance sophomore from Chicago, Illinois.