With the school year in session, it's time to get involved with clubs, sports and other programs. Teresa Fox, the career specialist at Lakeside High School, offers six suggestions:

- Join a club: This is one of the best ways to expand your hobbies and talents. By being taken out of your comfort zone, you'll make new friends and maybe find yourself enjoying other areas that you had never thought of.

- Try a sport: This offers the benefits of attaining physical fitness and belonging to a group of like-minded people. After-school practice keeps you busy and active, and the interaction between different schools also provides opportunities for making new friends.

- Take advantage of core classes: If you need help in a certain subject, there are always other students and teachers more than willing to help you. If you are gifted in a certain area, being a tutor is one of the most rewarding jobs you'll ever have.

- Help the community: Representing your school not only brings positive feedback for you, but also positive recognition for your school.

- Support your school: By attending after-school events such as sporting events or demonstrations, you can become more familiar with the student body and faculty. Being with your peers and administrators after school is an entirely new experience than interacting within the school walls. This also promotes school spirit.

- Support other schools: This one may take some people by surprise, but by showing good sportsmanship for other schools' teams you enhance your school's reputation. This benefits the community as well, because ideally schools should be on friendly terms with one another to create healthy relationships.