To reduce burnout over extracurriculars, focus on quality over quantity
Last year, I was the Director of Personal Relations for Skyline High School’s debate team. While I liked the title and enjoyed creating content for the club, I quickly realized I did not like debating and was not good at it. It took two hours from me every Monday — time I could have spent on homework, studying, or catching up on sleep.
Looking back, I realize I took the position because it would look good on my college applications, not because I was passionate about debate or content creation. This experience made me think about other activities I was doing just to build my resume — and there were a lot.
In competitive communities like Sammamish, students often feel pressured to fill their schedules with extracurricular activities to get into top colleges. These schools want well-rounded applicants with leadership, initiative, and talents beyond academics. When everyone around you is a club president, plays varsity sports, and volunteers on weekends, it is easy to think you must do the same just to keep up.
“There is miscommunication regarding what a well-rounded application looks like,” college counselor Danielle Vermeulen said after I told her about my situation. “Taking every high-level class and being a surface member of too many clubs and activities isn’t what makes a person well-rounded. Admissions representatives talk about the ‘holistic approach’ to admissions. These people are experts at reviewing applications. They can spot inauthenticity.”
While engaging in extracurriculars can enhance academic performance in moderation, overcommitting often leads to the opposite effect. Spreading yourself too thin results in superficial involvement and decreases one’s ability to focus on academics, defeating the purpose of extracurricular participation in the first place.
Research from the University of Wisconsin-Stout showed that students who focus on a few activities are more likely to feel fulfilled and do better in school. Conversely, students who are stretched too thin often end up burned out and disengaged.
One of my friends, a junior at Skyline High School, takes viola lessons because she has been doing it for a long time and wants to show colleges consistency. She chose to remain anonymous because she still takes those viola lessons.
“I feel like the only reason I continue is I’ve been doing it for so long, so I should continue, or because it’ll look good on my college apps because I’m doing an instrument. But in terms of how much I enjoy it or if I would be willing to continue with it [in college], it gets more messy,” she said.
She feels tired and unfulfilled because she is trying to balance schoolwork and leadership roles with an activity she does not enjoy. This is a common situation that causes burnout for local students.
After my experience with debate, I knew I needed a way to manage my time better and focus on activities that mattered to me. My first step was to list all my extracurriculars — every club, sport, and activity I was involved in, no matter how small. I even included homework and personal projects. The goal was to understand how I was spending my days.
I then wrote down three broad activities that I genuinely cared about and enjoyed doing — writing, technology, and teaching. These were the areas where I could see myself growing and making a meaningful impact.
Then came the hard part — matching my current activities to those interests. If an extracurricular did not align with one of my passions, I asked myself if it was worth continuing. Was it adding value to my life, or was it just another bullet point for my resume? By looking at my commitments through this lens, I was able to start cutting out activities that were not meaningful to me.
This process freed up more time for what I cared about and made my schedule less overwhelming. It allowed me to focus intensely on the activities aligned with my interests rather than spreading myself thin across too many commitments, giving me a sense of control over my time.
Finding this balance between schoolwork and extracurriculars is important for personal growth, but it should come from doing what you enjoy, not from trying to meet others’ expectations. When you focus on activities that interest you, you’ll learn more, have better experiences, and feel less stressed. Being well-rounded does not mean doing everything. It means getting involved in what matters to you.
As you reflect on your priorities, remember that extracurriculars should enrich your life, not add stress. You are in control of your journey.
Sneha Moudgalya is a Skyline High School junior and a Sammamish Independent columnist.
