Why Hobbies at College Are No Less Important Than Classes
BY SYLVIA KOHL
To be successful at college one does have to put a lot of time and effort into one’s studies and steadfastly go ahead towards a definitely set goal. It is also important to alternate periods of hard work with periods of rest and relaxation – although you can achieve significant results by working non-stop, they tend to be rather short-lived, for burnout usually follows not far behind.
However, there is relaxation and relaxation. Although partying and bouts of hard drinking can help you unwind, they can hardly be considered very constructive. A much better use of your time would be adopting a hobby and keeping up with it in your free time. Why? Let’s see.
1. It Helps You Develop Diverse Skills
It is often said that the best rest is a change of activity, and a hobby can easily serve you in this capacity. It allows you to drastically change the type of work you do from time to time, helping you maintain a mental edge and develop your hidden potential in process. It is better if your hobby is completely unrelated to your major – thus you will be able to avoid getting tired while acquiring new skills. For example, a computer science student can benefit from studying a foreign language, and vice versa.
2. It Can Bring You Money
Hobbies shouldn’t necessarily be expensive and highly time-consuming activities. A hobby can just as well bring in money as it can spend it – if you make your hobby into a business or a business into your hobby. Make crafts for sale, find and resell rare stuff on the Internet, or simply make and sell cheap business cards to both train your creativity and make a quick buck.
3. It Clears Your Mind
When you are completely preoccupied with the technical side of your hobby, whatever that is, you don’t think about anything else. You get rid of all the fears, concerns and worries about exams and grades, at least temporarily. And chances are, after you get a feel of what a wonderful feeling it is, you will try to transfer this attitude to the rest of your life. We achieve the best results when we whole-heartedly concentrate on the task at hand – and a hobby can help you achieve the necessary clarity of mind.
4. You Meet New People and Explore New Social Circumstances
Any hobby has a community concentrated around it. When you take it up you get a legitimate reason to get in touch with its members – and thus you can meet people you won’t otherwise meet, which is always a good thing. In addition to that, a hobby circle is a completely controlled environment – you don’t owe anything to anyone, which means that you can contribute and participate exactly to the degree you want. College is a good place to meet new people to begin with, and taking up a hobby brings it to a whole new level. For example, if you take up creative writing and join your college’s writing club you are free to choose whether you are going to limit your communication with other members to your creative endeavors or allows yourself to get closer to them.
5. It Improves Your Creativity
People tend to be much more creative when they are completely focused on an activity they enjoy. And the good thing is, this creativity can overflow and seep into other activities – which means that you can sometimes suddenly get an inspiration concerning your other tasks when doing something completely unrelated but, well, inspiring and exciting. Many people claim to get excellent ideas for their creative work when participating in physical activities: sports or hiking, for example.
All in all, taking up a creative and constructive hobby is both an excellent way to relieve extra stress and improve your results as a student. When you are fresh, calm and full of creative energy you are much more likely to succeed than when you are tired, distracted and worried.
Sylvia Kohl is an IT teacher with more than 8 years of professional experience. Her main spheres of interest are e-education and she convinced that learning process doesn’t stop after years in school and university.
