Senior Capstone Class of 2018

5-24-2018

How Do Hobbies Prepare You For The Future: An Autoethnography

Cruz O. Edwin

Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, ecruz100350@laleadership.org

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Senior Capstone Class of 2018

Abstract

Hobbies can offer an endless amount of interests and possibilities that can soon be converted into

passionate activities that people love to do in their daily lives. Young teens usually figure out

their career from finding an interest in their favorite hobby. A hobby can gain experience and

skills for students’ who are preparing to their future career. The evidence found for this research

paper are mainly on personal blogs of how hobbies actually benefit them for the future. Most

importantly, hobbies give​ positive challenges that expand our perspectives and help us explore

what we didn’t know about ourselves.

Keywords: Hobbies, Benefit, Students’, Future

Acknowledgement:

A big thanks to friends and family

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How Do Hobbies Prepare You For The Future:

An Autoethnography

Edwin Osmar Cruz

Los Angeles leadership Academy HS, Los Angeles, California, USA

Hobbies can offer an endless amount of interests and possibilities that can soon be converted

into passionate activities that people love to do in their daily lives. Young teens usually figure

out their career from finding an interest in their favorite hobby. A hobby can gain experience

and skills for students’ who are preparing to their future career. The evidence found for this

research paper are mainly on personal blogs of how hobbies actually benefit them for the future.

Most importantly, hobbies give​ positive challenges that expands the mind of a person and help

explore the unknown.

Incident
It was around the third week of my summer break that had just started and it was during

my sophomore year when I used to live in Lincoln Heights. My mom had just entered my room

to wake me up early in the morning around 8:00 AM by shoving my shoulder back and forth as

my eyes slowly opened, I immediately turned my body away from her and covered myself with

the sheets. I woke up really grumpy and tired because I only had 4 hours of sleep do to playing

Call of Duty with my friends all night the day before. As soon as she walks away she leaves ten

dollars by the counter and spoke in a loud tone and said,”ve a comprar huevos, chorizo, y cinco

bolillos”. My mood changes all of a sudden along with my urge of going back to sleep when I
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realized that my mom was about to make my favorite breakfast of all time. Quickly rubbing my

eyes, I stood up and picked whatever shirt and socks I could find first and speed walked to the

store that was literally across the street from my house. When coming back from the store I

jaywalked the street and ran across the front yard of the house as if I got caught committing the

crime. Bursting through the house to get to the kitchen, the smell of butter hitting the frying pan

was getting me even more excited and I didn’t hesitate to help my mom out with the cooking and

started to cut open the soft bolillo bread in half. About 15 minutes pass by when me and my

mom finished making the final product which was tortas de huevo con chorizo. It was my mom

and little sister sitting together and then me and my cousin sitting across from the table. My mom

started talking about my excitement and passion for food and how I should start cooking for

everyone for now on in a joking manner then my cousin jumps into the conversation and says

“Edwin you should consider working with me at the restaurant by first starting off as a

dishwasher and soon train to be a professional cook” at this moment I came to a realization that I

had a passion to be an executive chef and that hobbies can prepare me to be aware of my future

Study of Focus

Hobbies are important parts of our lives. People usually think of hobbies as being just a

physical activity that is just done for fun, this is what molds people to be who they are in the

future.​ Having a hobby is worth making time for because of the many social, mental, and

physical benefits it has to offer. Students’ that have a hobby during high school face new

challenges but soon have a positive outcome from it. These challenges can expand the students

mind when it comes to finding a job or when they ready to head off into college. The information

found for this research paper are from study sources that are backed up from journalists and
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personal stories on how hobbies can give you a future. From examining social, mental, and

physical effects of hobbies, it is clear that hobbies have a positive impact on high school aged

students’ career opportunities.

Introduction

When students are interested in activities such as sports, art, or even learning can

create a positive impact on their future success. Some parents may think that these curricular

activities can be a huge distraction to their child’s learning abilities, but many studies have

proved that students with hobbies can actually benefit them. The National Center for Education

Statistics says, “​Extracurricular activities provide a channel for reinforcing the lessons learned in

the classroom, offering students the opportunity to apply academic skills in a real-world context,

and are thus part of a well-rounded education.” (Highlands School, 2016). Even with the helping

hand of studies and graphs of hobbies, the National Center also state, “participation can

positively impact attendance rates, grade point averages, social skills, and college opportunities”

(Highlands School, 2016).

Analysis

Percentage of Americans who believe that Kids should be part of an Extracurricular

Activity
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This graph represents the votes from American adults who believe that kids with hobbies

is really important for daily use. The highest vote was 72% for promoting good health, this can

help me prove that hobbies can be physically good for people and for the 70% for creating

shared experiences with friends and family, it can represent as for social benefits. As for the rest,

it can mentally help people in life making decisions.

Hobbies can expand social life

When students socialize with friends and family, communication skills come into play

and improves mood when around other people. An example would be if a student athlete gets

involved in a sport and starts taking to his team members, the student starts to develop

communication. “This type of interaction may contribute to the student athlete's development of

self-identity” (Darling, Caldwell, & Smith at eI., Marsh & Kleitman, 2005). According to Olson,
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“participation in a school's music program lessened students' feelings of alienation, promoted

individual growth, and provide a common bond between home and school” (Olsen, 2008).

“Developing a hobby helps in discovering your hidden talents. It enables you to know yourself in

a better way and helps you in learning new skills. It helps in boosting your confidence levels”

(Kalyani, 2012). “As you maintain a hobby according to your interest, you need not meet with

any completion deadlines for the same and hence you won't be put to pressure for meeting the

deadlines.

With students participating in their hobbies, it can develop and broaden their perception

of making them into positive opportunities. “You are free to do with your hobby in your free

time and you can take as much time as you want to complete it. Hence there are no external

pressures acting on you for the completion of the same” (Kalyani, 2016). Kalyani is saying that

there is no time or pressure in pursuing a favorite hobby, The people get to decide what and

when they can accomplish it.

​Hobbies can be mentally good for you

The great thing about picking up a new hobby is that it provides an excellent outlet for

challenging yourself without the negative stress that comes from a work-related challenge. The

new challenge can also open your mind to new ways of seeing the world. ​Hobbies are integral

parts of our lives, and once developed, we find ourselves immersed in them on a regular basis.

Hobbies are fun and invigorating- and they can also have a great influence on our intelligence. It

has also been proven through various experiments that people with high levels of

verbal-linguistic intelligence are great at planning, decision-making and problem-solving.

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“Writing improves your linguistic abilities, of course. But it also helps you to develop such skills

as focus, creativity, imagination, and comprehension,” (Nabin Paudyal, 2016).

According to Reeves, “students who took part in three or four extracurricular activities

during the academic year had dramatically better grades than those who participated in no

extracurricular activities at all” (Reeves, 2008). “Participation in athletics is 15 related to the

following positive academic related outcomes including higher grade point average, fewer

disciplinary referrals, lower absentee rates, decrease in dropout rates, stronger commitment to the

school, liking school better, being in the academic tract in coursework, taking more demanding

coursework, more likely to attend college full time and graduate, holding higher aspirations for

attending college, applying to more universities and colleges, and had better occupational status

1S-years after high school” ( Darling, Caldwell, and Smith, 2005). Students don’t have to join a

physical active sport in order to be a scholar, they can join classes such as; dancing, art, acting,

etc. The students that have hobbies that affect them mentally are less likely to drop out and are

more prone to heading into college.

​Hobbies can physically benefit you

​This publication documents the positive impacts that parks and recreation can have on

the physical, mental and social health of individuals and their communities.“Teens that used

recreation centers were 75% more likely to engage in the highest category of moderate to

vigorous physical activity, according to a long-term study of over 17,000 teenagers. This national

study provided the first evidence that community recreation facilities are important for

adolescent activity,” (Gordan-Larson, 2000). “Participation in organized fitness and sports

programs helps children build higher bone density, combating osteoporosis in later life” (Shaw &
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Snow, 1995). “People who exercised for 20 minutes once a week were significantly less likely to

call in sick than nonexercisers. Those who exercised twice a week missed even less work

according to an Oklahoma State University study that tracked 79,000 people for a year,”

(Mooney et al., 2002).

Not only do physical activities keep people healthy, it can open up various job

opportunities for young teenagers that are looking for jobs. Companies will most likely want to

hire a person who is fit and strong and because jobs that take up more energy and strength need

people who love their jobs. An example would be if a teenager likes to ride bikes, maybe they

can find a job that involves delivering food on a bike around the city or being a photographer

going around places and climbing buildings to get the perfect shot, these are the type of jobs that

teenagers can find and have fun with. A physical hobby is one of the key factors in preparing

students to work during or after high school.

Opinion: Hobbies do Benefit you for the Future

Going over the three key terms of hobbies being beneficial to students and adults, it made

me go much more in depth about my own future. All three key terms should have an effect on

every students live whether it’s just doing P.E in school, Learning, or even talking to someone,

these can be the three basic skills that can make students succeed. Even though hobbies just seem

as a daily activity that is just to waste time quickly, now people will have a better understanding

about what their lives can be in the future. The research found for this paper is most likely useful

for high school students that are soon ready to leave into the adult world.

Conclusion
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People should make the best use of their hobbies when they’re young, especially for high

school students’ when they start thinking about their future. Students going through social,

mental, and physical effects are more in likely to produce great things after a few years. Every

student must do some kind of innocent hobby during his free time. Students have much time in

their hands. They should try to develop their natural abilities during the leisure. This will make

them great in their future. ​Even though hobbies just seem as a daily activity that is just to waste

time quickly, now people will have a better understanding about what their lives can be in the

future.
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References

A. (n.d.). The Learning Leader / The Extracurricular Advantage. Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept08/vol66/num01/The-Extracu

rricular-Advantage.aspx

Decano, G. M. (n.d.). Impact of Extracurricular Activities on Students. Retrieved from

http://www.academia.edu/34154774/Impact_of_Extracurricular_Activities_on_Students

How Extracurricular Activities Impact Students' Success. (2016, October 20). Retrieved from

https://www.highlandsschool.org/page/news-detail?pk=830914

K. (2012, March 07). What are the benefits of having a hobby. Retrieved from

http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/149751-What-benefits-having-hobby.aspx

Manchester, Connecticut. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://recreation1.townofmanchester.org/index.cfm/benefits-of-recreation/

O., & Applefeld, C. (2008, October 31). Can Music Education Help At-Risk Students? Study

Finds Positive Testimony Substantial but Quantitative Research Lacking. Retrieved from

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ820965

Paudyal, N. (2016, March 21). Taking Up These 10 Hobbies Will Make You Smarter. Retrieved

from https://www.lifehack.org/310690/taking-these-10-hobbies-will-make-you-smarter