DATE: Friday, October 31, 1997              TAG: 9710310071

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E15  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BREHON HARRISON, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   49 lines

TOO MANY AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES SPOIL THE GRADE

HOW IS EVERYBODY doing out there? You didn't ask for it, but I want to give you some advice about extracurricular activities.

Extracurricular activities are important. They give you time to do things you really like or are really good at. They look good on college essays and applications, too.

Like most schools, my school, Churchland High, offers a variety of extracurricular activities. There's football, cheerleading, band, orchestra, chorus, Academic Challenge, the literary magazine, volleyball, soccer, golf, art, just to name a few.

I'm involved in the Spanish club, which teaches us about Spanish culture, language and art. It's really interesting and I'm learning something new every meeting. I'm also in the CHROME club. CHROME is open to anyone, but its primary focus is on minorities interested in majoring in math, science, engineering, or computer science in college.

Although I enjoy both clubs, they take up considerable amounts of my time, especially when you add my school work and the stories and columns I write as a teen correspondent for The Virginian-Pilot. I'm swamped.

But being swamped is OK, if you know how to prioritize. If you don't know how to prioritize, you'll end up cramming yourself with too much work. That can cause lots of stress. You may not notice how high your stress levels are, but your family and friends likely will notice.

Sure, you want to explore and discover your talents, but there's a time when you have to say, ``Hold up. Wait a minute. This is stressing me out.''

``If the students see that their work is suffering they should stop with some of the extracurricular activities and get their grades back on track,'' advises Marilyn Drewrey, a guidance counselor at Churchland. ``There is no set number for extracurricular activities; it depends on the individual knowing their home life . . . It depends on the individual schedules.''

In other words, along with the special activities, there needs to be time for other things, like eating, sleeping, bathing, homework, studying and spending time with your family.

What I'm saying is this: You've got to know your limits. It's great to join clubs and sports and enlarge your knowledge, but you must look at the total picture. If your grades are slipping, it's time to rethink your extracurricular activities. If you're spending too little time with your family, reassess the after-school goodies. You don't have to give up everything, but you do need to strike a balance. MEMO: Brehon Harrison is sophomore at Churchland High School in

Portsmouth.

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