Nowadays, most first year students ponder whether or not to participate in off-campus activities. They are undecided because they cannot guarantee the activities will benefit their futures. Sookmyung Women’s University offers students numerous chances to join clubs such as leadership groups and the student council as well as administration interns. However, off campus, a lot of university students are also participating in activities. These clubs are more various in their scope like education, music, and so on; however, some people insist that they are also a waste of time and effort. The Sookmyung Times invested students’ opinion as to whether they are the flowers to university life or poisons that hinder school life.
-Debate Topic-
Is participation in off campus activities mandatory?
Pro
Yoo Reonjin
Department of English Language & Literature ‘15
lavieenrrose@naver.com
Recently, most university students are engaging in some sort of off campus activities. Off campus activities are those that are offered by institutes not officiated with their university. They are seen as important and considered essential prior to applying for a job. Keeping in line with this trend, there are now numerous diverse off campus activities available to university students today.
Off campus activities are chances for students to experience diverse things, which is something that every university student needs to do before graduating. In accordance with this fact, off campus activities have systematically structured and secure programs that are geared specifically towards university students. Indeed, students can have similar experiences on campus but the scope is limited. Through off campus activities, students are able to experience multifarious things they can’t experience at university.
Next, students can meet new people. Off campus activities are held throughout many regions and at many universities. In other words, students can meet people from different domestic and international regions and learn about life at other universities. Students can then share information and learn things like regional and international cultures, traditions, and so on. Also, they can make new friends and expand their social network. Besides, most off campus activities are operating with groups of people. Therefore, students can learn the dynamics of a group and how to cooperate with others.
Lastly, students can find their aptitude. Students can experience many interesting programmes through participation in various off campus activities, which helps students become familiar with other fields besides their major. Moreover, students can investigate their field of study to a deeper extent, beyond what is presented at university. These attributes all help students determine whether or not they are a good fit to their major.
For the aforesaid three reasons, I agree with doing off campus activities. They offer students a chance to experience diverse things. Also, they help students meet new people and find their aptitude.
Con
Kim Youngin
Department of Media & Communication ‘15
youngin2222@naver.com
In South Korea, there are so many off campus activities for university students that it would be impossible to count them all even using both hands; thus, websites have been established to arrange the list of available activities and recommend suitable activities to students. This has come about because many people think off campus activities are important to university students. However, they are not essential during our university life.
First, it distracts students from their studies. Students spend way too much time on those off campus activities than studying because they require much time and effort. Typically, the activities require students to work on a project from start to end, which can hinder the amount of time on school work and result in low grades. Students do not have enough time as it is to study their majors properly. It is hard to do both; therefore, students need to choose between studies and off campus activities. Students must face the fact that it is their job to study hard.
Second, some off campus activities have lost their original purpose. People say that all the club was doing was drinking alcohol. For instance, one club was established to do volunteer work, but the students only halfheartedly volunteer for others; they mostly drink and mess around playing games. This type of behaviour is inappropriate for the individuals and for society as well. Moreover, some organizers use the activities to promote products and/or the company. They target students on SNSs because they need them to endorse their products or the company.
Finally, these club activities do not necessarily ease job searches. Most university students do off campus activities with the idea that it will help them get a job later, but companies set limits on the number of certifications of participation on submitted resumes and some companies do not care about that at all. What is important is school grades and a well-written cover letter. Off campus activities are secondary items when preparing to get a job. It doesn’t guarantee a job.
In conclusion, it is unnecessary to do off campus activities as they take away from studies, they have lost their original purposes, and they do not aid in job hunting.
