Everyone has a choice: choice of happiness, choice of beliefs and many other choices, but probably the most difficult choice to make as a student is the choice of career. The decisions taken can lead to catastrophic effects in life. Career is an individual metaphorical “journey” through learning, work and other aspects of life. However there are factors that affect the career choices of an individual and one of those that are taken into consideration now are the extracurricular involvement of the students. Fujita(2002) states that many extracurricular activities have proven to be beneficial in building and strengthening academic achievement even if the activities are not related to the academic subject. Thus, as the students gets involved in extracurricular activities, the better the academic achievement become and it might follow, the more effective their career choices will be.
Globally, engagements in extracurricular activities are supported in different countries around the world. Different schools across the globe encourage their students to take part in any extracurricular activity in order to give them ideas on how to make an effective career choice. In Saudi Arabia, sports, clubs members, team practices and outdoor activities, in general are restricted to males. This gives them the opportunity to explore their abilities in different areas which may help them in deciding what career they should go into the future. On the other hand, females are encourage in other social activities which may affect their career choices as well. Given this idea, students are given the freedom to think and choose their own career. Kerry(2003) emphasized that students who participate in extracurricular activities have a higher rate of maturity and self-efficacy in choosing a career.
Moreover, students in Myanmar experience poor extracurricular engagements due to their education programme. They have matriculation exam or also called as graduation exam and they also have the Comprehensive Personal Record (CPR) where the activities of the students in home and in school, such as helping at home, engaging in aesthetic education, sports, clubs, associations and school activities are recorded by the help of the parents and teachers. However, the recorded data are sometimes not accurate. Due to the great emphasis on exams and tests, Myanmar students don’t engage themselves anymore on extracurricular activities and as a result, the students have an inadequate overall knowledge and they are not anymore encouraged to develop their socialization, leadership, communications, creativity and critical thinking skills. This also influence the life of the student and work after school.
The Philippines also encounters problems with regards to students’ career choice. Chua, et al.(2007) emphasized that Filipinos have been considering education a s the guiding way of success, but as of this present time, in terms of employment, certain companies focus on hiring applicants with leadership development and have been very keen about skilled employees. Moreover, Employment requirements include soft skills which refer to wide set of skills, competencies, attitudes and personal qualities that enable one to have effective job and achieve their goals (Lippman et al. 2013). At present, there are newly graduates that do not have essential soft skills that employers are looking for and as a result, these lead to a problem of having difficulties in finding job since educational attainment is not enough to be in the workplace. Furthermore, schools such as University of Santo Tomas and in some college institutions promote extracurricular activities for the students to be prepared for their future. Consequently, Massori(2011) states that it is important to participate in extracurricular activities in order to learn and develop skills like leadership and teamwork that companies are looking for in all the applicants they plan to employ.
In a more specific situation the Sisters of Mary- Girlstown, Inc. City of Talisay, Cebu, a sectarian school that gives poor children higher quality education in their junior and senior high school life with emphasis on spiritual values, academic achievement and skills development. Besides that, Sisters of Mary School also molds the students engage in extracurricular activities to relieve themselves from problems. Similarly, the school also offers extracurricular activities to the students such as academic clubs, sports, dance troupe, rondalla, choir and other extracurricular which involves leadership activities like Citizen Advancement Training (CAT) and Supreme Student Government (SSG). These extracurricular activities may help the students enhance their skills and talents, gain more knowledge about the extracurriculars they are engaged with, build confidence and get better grades in their studies. In addition, as the students engage in extracurricular, it also helps them develop their interest in life, more specifically in career development and career planning. Furthermore, in this school, students are given the opportunities to engage themselves with the extracurricular activities they are interested with. Thus, extracurricular engagements are of great help towards the efficacy of students’ career choice.
Therefore, this study aimed to describe the in-depth experience of a selected Grade 12 as her extracurricular engagements affect the efficacy of her career decision making in the Sisters of Mary School- Girlstown, Inc. S.Y. 2018-2019 and this research endeavour will serve as a guide for the proposed extracurricular engagement plan. This contributes to the fulfilment for the benefits of the school and students. These will help the school to be guided in what appropriate extracurricular activities will be offered to the students with their interest in mind which will serve as their way for the efficacy of their carerer choices. Students will also be guided in choosing a career in relation to the extracurricular they are engage with and with their encountered experiences.