A race against time

ARt by LINDSAy AUGUStINE A race a g a i ns t time

The fear of joining extracurriculars late

CARoLINA CUADRoS

The timer to dedicate yourself to an extracurricular starts counting down the moment you enter high school. Panic pollutes many students’ brains when they realize they are already behind because everyone else had a head start on the activity.

High school has turned into a competition to be the smartest, the fastest, the most creative, the best. This cutthroat environment is filled with individuals who have dedicated their lives to a sport, skill, or club.

Despite how daunting it is, individuals still join activities partway into high school.

Enter Aylin Salahifar, a senior at Carlmont High School. In her sophomore year, she made the decision to join the school’s track and field team. Salahifar was met with record-breaking teammates, creating the illusion that she was already so far behind.

The question “How am I going to keep up?” constantly invaded her thoughts.

Older students are more susceptible to distance themselves and even avoid activities altogether out of embarrassment when younger students excel at those same activities. Salahifar was no stranger to this; she found that many freshmen had a more extensive skill set than her since she was new to the sport.

“Because the Bay Area is so competitive, everyone starts their hobbies at a young age, so it seems like they are so good at what they do,” Salahifar said.

The Bay Area is specifically prone to invoking these intrusive thoughts. Home to top universities, tech companies, and high-performing programs, residing in this environment makes the stakes feel excruciatingly high. According to NBC Bay Area, students feel that the Bay Area high school culture is so intense because classrooms are made up of top-performing students, athletes, and competitors. Consequently, pressure and competition constantly occupy this hyper intensified bubble.

“It’s like grade inflation but talent inflation,” Salahifar said.

Though some students find a niche as a result of genuine passion, many are driven by the pressure to allure top universities. Often, parents intensify the pressure by enrolling their kids in extracurriculars with the sole purpose of building their resumes. Naturally, these students strive to be the best.

This competitive nature can often turn toxic. From athletes to computer scientists to debate competitors, students find unethical ways to intimidate others from joining. Salahifar noticed a pattern of lies stemming from her acquaintances.

“It’s the strangest thing because people are always downplaying their skills, so when new people join something, it can be really discouraging because people pretend that they are on the same level as you but then succeed amazingly.”