Between lectures, exams, assignments and theses, students already have quite enough on their plate. Does taking on extra-curricular activities only serve to distract them from their studies? Students were asked to share their experiences...

Karl Vassallo, European Studies, third year.

When I first started working, my initial aim was to earn extra pocket-money and to get experience. After five years, my part time job has developed into a career that I love. This does to some extent hinder my life at University, as it is very time consuming and when I’m not at work, I’m still thinking about my job.

In the past two years, this was not such a problem, as I always managed to find the right balance between work and academic life. But now that I am facing my final year at University I am faced with a dilemma.

This creates a lot of stress in my life as a student as I try to juggle a managerial part-time job, attend lectures, prepare assignments, sit for exams, compile my thesis and attend to other extra-curricular activities.

Dorian Sciberras, Law LLD, fourth year.

I have been active in student organisations for the past four years, especially within the Moviment Kattoliku Studenti Universitarji (MKSU), having served various posts in the executive committee, including president in 2009-2010.

I think it is very important for a student to be involved in such groups or in the student-related activities organised on campus. University should not be just an institution where one attends lectures and passively writes down the information being given. One has to find a way to contribute his knowledge for the well-being of the environment around him.

I believe that this is exactly what student organisations offer – a golden opportunity towards achieving this aim. Moreover, the expertise such groups offer to their active members is immense, and forms part of a large chunk of a true holistic education.

A ‘graduate’ should not be the result of excessive long hours of learning by the book and blindly taking down lecture notes, but of finding a balance between learning the theory and using this knowledge in practice, in order to developing new skills that would help him or her become a better person.

MKSU and my involvement in other activities have made my university experience successful .

For more on MKSU, visit www.mksu.org.

Simona Buttigieg, B.Sc. (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, second year.

Keeping up with extracurricular activities is simply a matter of good time-management. I have never taken up an activity knowing that it will infringe on my course work. I play netball and go to the gym about twice a week, and work a couple of shifts in a restaurant too.

However, the most worthwhile of my extracurricular activities is the time I devote to helping children with their homework for a few hours every week in a particular parish.

The satisfaction I get from giving something back to the community is enough to keep me going every week.

I always try to put university above all else, but as long as assignments and laboratory reports are handed in on time, I’m happy. I might be left with little free time but it’s better than being broke, unfit, unfulfilled and bored to death of mind-numbing television series, so I don’t think that my activities hinder my life as a university student in any way.

I’ve learnt to appreciate the few moments I get to relax and enjoy my family and friends and say, “I deserve this!”

Irene Scicluna, B.A. English (Hons), third year.

Participating in a student organisation, one faces student apathy, toils for long unpaid hours often feeling under-appreciated, after which one must keep up with one’s demanding academic work.

And yet, I feel I am well paid for my work in Department of English Students’ Association (Desa). To start with, knowing that through events like the ‘Publishing Symposium’, and others, my work within Desa has helped generate a more dynamic environment on campus, gives me satisfaction and confidence that spills over to other areas of my life.

Desa has sharpened my skills in book-keeping and accounts, public speaking, public relations and diplomacy.

While I confess it was not an aptitude I had in the beginning, Desa has taught me to be flexible in my approach to tasks, and to be capable of multitasking through prioritisation and effective time-management – skills that will surely come in handy when I venture into the working world.

By establishing meaningful working relationships with other organisations, being in a student organisation not only invests in the future but also in the now. For more on Desa, log on to www.desa.org.mt.

Alessandra Pace, B.A. EU Studies, third year.

I am an athlete, competing locally and internationally. While my sport has taught me a lot in terms of self-control and time-management and kept me away from habits that could have hindered my development and studies, I can’t say it has helped my life as a student.

Abroad, athletes with results similar to mine are paid for practising their sport and allowed to build their university timetable around their training schedule.

Exam periods are particularly stressful due to the fact that apart from needing to peak academically, I must also peak physically as I am also busy with international competition.

It is sad that sport is still seen as a hobby. I have heard academic staff say athletes should be penalised for missing lectures due to being abroad on sports, rather than excused.

When thousands of universities have realised that sports and academics go hand in hand , it is disappointing to see that we are still so far behind.