Students engaging extracurricular activities is less likely to report feeling stress ¢ Benefits from physical activities e Benefits from art activities 2.. THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF EXTRAC
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES — INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
TERM PAPER
THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ON COLLEGE STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PRESSURE
Instructor’s name: Mr Tran Nam Anh
Student’s name: Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh
Student number: 21DH714547
Nov-23
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES — INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
TERM PAPER
THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ON COLLEGE STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PRESSURE
Instructor’s name: Mr Tran Nam Anh
Student’s name: Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh
Student number: 21DH714547
Nov-23
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Student’s name : NGUYEN DANG DUY THINH
Student number : 21DH714547
Email address: nguyendangduythinh@gmail.com
Submission date: 17 November 2023
Word count : 2013
Declaration
I certify that the attached material is my original work No other person’s work or ideas have been used without acknowledgement Except where I have clearly stated that I have used some of this material elsewhere, I have not presented this for assessment in another course or unit at this or any
other institution
Signature & Full Name
Trang 4ASSESSMENT
Remarks
Score
Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh
Trang 5OUTLINE
THE POSSITIVE EFFECTS OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ON COLLEGE STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PRESSURE
1 Introduction:
1 Hook:
e 90% of Vietnamese college students reported feeling prominent levels of mental disorders sometimes or often (Ly & Vo, 2018)
2 Background information:
® Definitions of “Academic pressure” and “Extracurricular activities”
e Reasons why extracurricular activities are important in reducing college student’s academic pressure
3 Thesis statement
“Extracurricular activities play a significant role that can affect positively on college student’s academic pressure”
Il Give them opportunities to relax and de-stress
1 Students engaging extracurricular activities is less likely to report feeling stress
¢ Benefits from physical activities
e Benefits from art activities
2 Extracurricular activities offer students break time after stressful studying hours
e Brain action mode — mechanism
e Break time — valuable time for mental recovery
III Develop new skills and knowledge
1 New skills and knowledge can boost student confidence
e The efficiency of life skills
2 Skills and knowledge from EA can be applied to real-world problems
e Benefits from life skills implementation
e Skills and knowledge from club
IV Connect with other students
1 Social connection can help student overcome stress
e The importance of social interaction
¢ Communication activities in colleges and universities
Trang 62 Strong sense of belonging to their college community
e Mechanism ensuring tension reduction
Conclusion
1 Summarization
2 Prediction of new roles of extracurricular activities in digital age
3 Expectations
Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh
Trang 7THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ON COLLEGE STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PRESSURE
There is a huge number of students around the world who are suffering from high levels of stress and anxiety due to academic pressure Academic pressure is a common state in our modern life Research paper by Ly and Vo (2018) mentions 90%
of Vietnamese college students reported feeling prominent levels of mental disorders sometimes or often Obviously, this is an alarming finding about the reality of student mental health in general and academic pressure in particular
Picture 1
Academic pressure — an alarming situation in Vietnam
Academic pressure is increasingly becoming a concerning situation in Vietnam society with many serious consequences “How can help students overcome academic pressure” is not a simple question for us to figure out a suitable solution Many psychologists point out that reducing the learning frequency by taking part in extracurricular activities can be considered an effective solution for college students
to cope with academic stress and anxiety
In this essay, I will focus on the role of extracurricular activities in reducing academic pressure on college students For this reason, it is necessary to figure out two
definitions of these terms “academic pressure’, and “extracurricular activities”
“Academic pressure” can be defined as the stress that students suffer due to the
Trang 8requirements of their schoolwork This includes pressure to obtain high marks, overcome exams, and complete assignments on time Academic pressure can be caused by several reasons, including parents, teachers, peers, and society
“Extracurricular activities” can be defined as the activities that students take part in outside of the regular school curriculum These activities can be anything from sports,
music, and art to volunteer work, skills courses, and club activities
There is a large number of studies showing the essential role of “extracurricular activities” in lessening the negative effects of academic pressure on college students Even though there are many benefits of extracurricular activities in reducing stress, this term paper will only consider three main crucial factors that can contribute to the reduction of academic pressure in college students Particularly, extracurricular activities can supply students with a short break from learning, help them to develop new skills, and support students to connect with others
Through these positive factors, it can be believed that “extracurricular activities play a significant role that can affect positively on college student’s academic pressure” In this term paper, I will discuss how extracurricular activities can support students in dealing with academic pressure I will also supply examples of how college students have received help from taking part in extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities facilitate various opportunities for students to relax and reduce stress from academic pressure Wang et al (2023) have recently argued that students engaging in extracurricular activities are less likely to report stress and mental health problems Besides, Meulenberg (2022) mentions when playing sports or physical activities, our body releases a hormone called endorphins which has a significant effect on reducing pain and stress in the human body Similarly, according
to Scott (2015) when playing or listening to music, our nervous system can be calmed
down and the level of cortisol, a neurotransmitter that causes stressful situations, is
also mitigated A similar process in our body also happens when we are engaging in art activities such as drawing or painting Other scientific studies also give the same conclusions of the efficient effects of physical activities, music, and art on the mental health problems of humans in general and of college students in particular
Being aware of the importance of physical activities and art activities, many colleges and universities are organizing these activities for their students For instance, on 26th Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh 2
Trang 9March 2023, more than 20.000 students from Vietnam National University, Ho Chi
Minh City, took part in the “Running for Happy Educational Environment” event This running event was organized to help college students be aware of the importance
of physical activities in dealing with mental health problems Similar events are often held annually to help students enhance their health, both in physical health and psychological health
Picture 2
Athletes at the “Running for Happy Educational Environment” event
Extracurricular activities not only bring out direct impacts as mentioned above, but also indirectly offer college students break time after stressful studying hours According to Harvard Medical School (2021), when people are continuously in action mode, brain regions that take responsibility for higher-order functions could be damaged This can lead to a decrease in cognitive abilities including attention span and memory For this reason, it is not recommended for college students to constantly study without resting
Engaging in extracurricular activities indirectly gives students more time to relax and release their stress and anxiety This time is a valuable period for college students to not only rearrange their studying but also control their stress and anxiety Due to the
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“special break time” that can help college students reduce academic pressure Whether directly or indirectly, taking part in extracurricular activities was proved as a useful solution for college students to overcome mental health problems in general and stress from studying in specific
Extracurricular activities not only include physical activities, music, and art, but also contain knowledge and skill courses, which are very necessary for students to enhance their confidence The effectiveness of life skills on students was stated in research by Maryam et al (2011): students who possess life skills are more likely to be more confident than students who do not After-school activities offer college students a wide range of options including skills that they are good at When college students have opportunities to focus on their strengths, they can improve their self-esteem easily In this way, extracurricular activities create an environment in which college students can nurture their potential talent
Besides its impacts on boosting the confidence of college students, extracurricular activities also show their benefits in facilitating the application of life skills in real life According to research by Tran (2017), students who are able to access extracurricular activities to enhance non-cognitive skills are more likely to improve their confidence, aspiration, and employability Communication skills, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and critical thinking skills are four skills that most extracurricular activities bring to college students We cannot deny the necessity and importance of these skills for the comprehensive development of college students, which is being needed increasingly by employers in the labor market today Obviously, after considering the effectiveness of extracurricular activities in offering opportunities to develop necessary college students’ skills, we can easily recognize the correlation between the benefits of these skills and academic pressure release With the support of skills and knowledge, students learn from the process of engaging
in extracurricular activities, college students can become familiar with applying these skills to face and overcome difficulties they encounter in their studies
Being aware of the important impacts of life skills courses in increasing college students’ confidence, colleges and universities facilitate many opportunities for their students to improve their confidence through life skills clubs These clubs are Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh 4
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Picture 3
A seminar held by students of HUFLIT University
Trang 12Through the analysis and examples mentioned above, it is certain that due to boosting confidence and applying skills from extracurricular activities, college students can effortlessly deal with their academic pressure
Ozbay et al (2007) pointed out that low social interactions can cause negative effects
on mental and physical health Besides, according to the conclusion in the research of Jeyasingh (2022), social interactions play an incredibly significant role in reducing academic pressure in college students Extracurricular activities usually tend to promote the connection between individuals taking part in them Therefore, extracurricular activities can be considered an effective solution to create a network in which students can release stress and get support from others through involvement in
social interaction
As mentioned above, extracurricular activities not only supply physical activities and skill courses, but they also contain socializing activities Considering the effectiveness
of verbal interaction in enhancing mental health problems, many colleges and universities often organize communication activities for college students to create a network of “increasing soft skills’ and “reducing mental health problems” For instance, the English Club or 7SEC of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) often organizes the “Gotta Talk” program, which allows participants to talk and share their ideas and opinions on a particular topic Through these similar extracurricular activities, college students can get involved in an environment in which they can encourage each other to enhance their social interaction College students can easily communicate and share their ideas and emotions This indirectly helps them reduce stress and mental disorders, even though they do not really mention them
Picture 4
Gotta Talk program at HUFLIT University
Nguyen Dang Duy Thinh 6