The unsigned editorial is usually written by Kylie Buck or Matthew Long; however, the ideas presented represent the opinions of the majority of the Gaucho Gazette’s editorial board.

College bound students begin preparation for their applications as early as freshman year. Eager freshmen sign up for clubs, classes, and sports that will elevate their application and make it competitive with applicants from around the country. Without extracurricular activities, students’ applications are incomplete.
In order to get into universities, students must be well-rounded. Schools are no longer solely admitting students with above 4.0 GPAs. In fact, this past year, a student applying to UCLA with a 4.0 or higher had only a 40% chance of being accepted to the school, showing how heavily the application process relies on a student’s commitment to activities outside of school, not only participating, but acting as a leader.
From embellishing college applications to gaining the skills and experience necessary to succeed in the world, sports, clubs, and extracurricular classes give ambitious students the opportunity to get ahead. These activites offer an environment that differs from the atmosphere of typical classrooms, allowing students to expand and develop their skills and personalities in varied ways.
Students need to be able to access these activities. Teens come from diverse backgrounds and posess even more diverse interests. Schools offer students more than enough choices: considering the number of clubs on our campus, all students should be able to find a club that appeals to them and no student should be limited in opportunity.
Casa Grande offers almost 20 different sports, ranging from football to badminton, for students to compete in. It has over 50 diverse clubs, such as KEY Club, choir, and hula club, for students to join, not to mention the many tutoring and peer counseling programs also available for students to volunteer in. In addition, Casa supports multiple courses, like Academic Decathlon, journalism, and band. They require more dedication than just class time from students, but give them preparation for future careers and a sense of dedication to a program.
With this variety of options available to students, it becomes the responsibility of each individual to find pastimes that match their interests and aspirations. The emphasis that colleges place on extracurricular activities makes them essential for those wishing to attend high ranking schools, while the same classes and clubs offer valuable experience to students who hope to enroll in trade schools or plan on joining the workforce immediately after graduation.
Schools offer students a wide array of opportunities. Whether a student wants to become a mechanic directly after high school or wants to attend a university and become a doctor, the support is available at school so that students can receive as much preparation as possible for a successful career.