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I think this is referred to as "preemptive" recruiting.

The Extracurricular Enthusiast is an individual who is eager to participate in social organizations, especially school-related. He's at every school football game, is always decked out on school spirit day and when anything new comes up on the school activities radar he's always lurking in the cafeteria as the Heroes sit down for lunch, ready to tell everyone about it, and badger them into signing up.

Common traits an Extracurricular Enthusiast may have is as a plot Catalyst, giving needed information or unilaterally signing the heroes up for a 'fun' day manning the bake sale, whereupon plot will ensue. After doing so they will then leave in a flurry, busy to decorate the gym for homecoming night or something. This is related to another common trait, which is being that person who knows everyone, thus acting as the main character's source for rumors, gossip and any other information about the school history or what's going on around town.

Extracurricular Enthusiasts are not necessarily smart or talented, they are just ready and willing, though the All-Star Soccer Player and the Straight-A Student also tend to be this trope. Sometimes the Extracurricular Enthusiast is motivated to participate in school activities because they want as many things to write down on their college applications as possible. Other motivations might be that they genuinely feel like they are helping some cause, they like being part of something bigger than themselves, or they are just in it for the 'fun'.

Extracurricular Enthusiasts can be any gender and technically be of any age or environment, but they crop up most often in High School Slice of Life stories or College life stories. While the Extracurricular Enthusiast can sometimes overlap with the nerd, Geek, and Teacher's Pet tropes, they are generally much better accepted by the school population because they do everything 'normal' kids do, they are just also heavily involved in other extracurricular activities (however, they do tend to enjoy tough schoolwork). They are very rarely the Alpha Bitch or Jerk Jock and more often are a minor member of the hero's group or a Satellite Character.

Characters likely to be Extracurricular Enthusiasts are any member of the ASB or Student Council, including the Class Rep and the Student Council President. In general, they have more boisterous and outgoing personalities and are rarely a Shrinking Violet. Typical characterizations of the Extracurricular Enthusiast are the Genki Girl or Genki Guy, the Ojou, or the Bespectacled Cutie.

Despite how many anime and manga take place in schools, it's rare to find any Extracurricular Enthusiasts of the "involved in multiple clubs" type there; in Japan, students are typically expected to stick to only one club during their time at school, and club activities are often too time-consuming for a student to be a part of more than one club.

Keep in mind that in order to be this trope, a character must be heavily involved in more than one extracurricular activity, or be an aggressive promoter and recruiter of their chosen activity.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Hana from Flunk Punk Rumble wants to participate in everything the high school experience has to offer, because she used to be a delinquent and never participated in activities in junior high. She enthusiastically (to the point of lunacy) participates in every student activity, becoming the Class Rep and then later the Student Council President. She is seen in the picture, unilaterally deciding that Shinagawa will run for Student Council with her.
  • In Medaka Box, Medaka takes her job as student body council president very seriously and forces her best friend to join. Of course, given that the student body council are the only ones capable of protecting the students from the Minus class, it's probably for the best.

    Comic Books 
  • Referenced in a 1994 DC Comics advertisement that showed a High School Yearbook for five teen heroes who had "graduated" to their own titles. After four entries where "Afterschool Activities" were listed as "NOT APPLICABLE" and the reason this character wasn't in the school system, Robin gets "PRESIDENT, chess club; PRESIDENT, computer club; PRESIDENT, chemistry club" along with the quote "I'm just one of the guys. Really." (In-continuity, of course, Tim Drake had one afterschool activity that rather precluded any others, though he did try out for the tennis team.)
  • Maps from Gotham Academy is on several clubs including the Detective Club and a role-playing club and is devastated to learn that she won't be allowed to join yearbook since she's already in too many extracurriculars.

    Films — Animation 
  • My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: The Equestria Girls are all involved in a lot of individual activities in addition to the things they do together. One of the digital shorts, "Queen of Clubs", involves Rainbow Dash and Applejack competing to see who can be in the most different clubs at the end of the year. Even then, the Equestria Girls have been shown to be part of after-school study programs, form the Yearbook Club, play in a band, organize charity drives, hold pep rallies... and those are just the things they're all shown doing together.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Max Fischer's extracurricular activities at Rushmore Academy include: Yankee Review editor-in-chief, French Club president, representing Russia in the model UN, Stamp & Coin Club vice-president, debate team captain, Lacrosse team manager, Calligraphy Club president, Astronomy Society founder, fencing team captain, track & field J. V. decathlon, 2nd Chorale choirmaster, bombardment society founder, Kung Fu Club yellow belt, Trap & Skeet Club founder, Rushmore Beekeepers president, Yankee Racers founder, Max Fischer Players director and the Piper Cub Club. Yeah, and he saved Latin - what did you ever do?
  • Patty Simcox from Grease, who was an over-enthusiastic goody-toe-shoes cheerleader, nominated for student council, helped set up for the prom, and gossiped her way through the whole movie/play.
  • In the Korean film Volcano High School, virtually everyone tries to get the new main character to sign up with one of their clubs—he is swamped by enthusiastic recruiters.

    Literature 
  • In the Discworld Assassins' Guild Diary, the same four or five names keep cropping up in the list of Student Officials. Of particular note is Victor Ludorum who, amongst several other titles, is "Captain of Everything Else".
  • Scobie in Don't Call Me Ishmael!. He becomes College Captain, started the debate team, and participates in a lot of school activities. He tries to become an Academic Athlete even though he is horrible at playing sports and ends up being a member of the (fifth) volleyball team.
  • Played with in Haruhi Suzumiya where, although the titular character initially joined every club at her high school, she did not stay in any of them and simply joined to see if they were interesting. She immediately quits each one after finding them too boring, even though all the clubs beg her to come back.
  • Susie Fitzerman in ''National Lampoon's 1964 High School Yearbook Parody".
  • Slacker: Jordan's Student Body President rival Kelly is the softball captain, Blood Drive Coordinator, Parents' Night Hostess, a National Honor Society member, and part of every other student organization that Jordan and Felicia know of (including the golf team, the art club, and eventually even the P.G.A.).
  • Chikaru from Strawberry Panic! is a rare example in Japanese media of a character who's involved in numerous school clubs at once (since in real life, Japanese students are expected to stick to only one club at school). Not only is she the Student Council President, she's also the president of the Transformation Club and the Secret Club, as well as a variety of other clubs.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Walter Denton from Our Miss Brooks. He's been manager of the football, baseball and basketball team. He's been on the debating team, editor of the school paper "The Madison Monitor" and Vice-President of the Student Council. Walters also helps Miss Brooks' with the Spring Garden and joins Madison High School's (short-lived) student Traffic Police. He's also tried out (unsuccessfully) for the baseball, basketball and water polo, before finally (and barely) making it onto the school football team.
  • Alexis from Castle seems to be involved in a huge number of school clubs. She takes them very seriously and she's a star academically as she wants to go to a prestigious college.
  • Muffy Tepperman from Square Pegs was involved in, if not the head of, every extracurricular activity.
  • Dean Pelton from Community. There is no school activity/event that he can't get excited about.
    • Annie Edison is the Straight-A Student equivalent.
  • Modern Family:
    • Alex plays the cello, plays lacrosse, and has participated in a bottle-collection program to help build schools in third-world countries. Note that she doesn't do all this because she loves all the activities, but rather to pad her resume for when she has to apply for colleges.
    • Cameron. In various episodes, he has played drums in a rock band, led a band of Christmas carolers, and sang a verse from an opera at a wedding. And, of course, he is a classically trained Auguste clown.
  • Rachel Berry from Glee, and it's only a minor element of her character. However, she doesn't do it because she loves or cares about the activities, but only so she can have more photos in the yearbook than any other student - to the point where she actually suggests to a student who (at the time) loathes her that they start a club together so she can get that one last vital photo. Apparently this is to "practice" for later years when she is confident that she'll be pursued by the paparazzi.
  • Sue on The Middle tries out for things constantly, but only very rarely succeeds. When she does, she is wildly enthusiastic; you could make a drinking game out of how many times she says "cross country" in season 2.
  • Paris Geller and Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls. They are both involved in their school newspaper and heavily invested in it, and they are later active in students' council.
  • Spencer Hastings of Pretty Little Liars could qualify as this. She takes a myriad of AP classes and is a member of the hockey team and a tennis player, as well as running for class president, internships, and charity work.
  • Little Lunch: Debra Jo, who has badges for all the extracurricular roles she holds... and ones she doesn't hold but has made up herself since she got a badge maker for her birthday. To a lesser degree Atticus, who tends to bring up all the clubs he's a member of in a very Small Name, Big Ego manner.
    Atticus: I've been in the choir for two years, and we've played in shopping centres!
  • Josh in Best Foot Forward is a relatively rare main-protagonist example, joining every club because he'd wanted to go to public school for at least three years and was finally there.

    Video Games 
  • You're welcome to play this way in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, and you at least approach it even without accepting the various sidequests the Hogwarts staff and students offer you. You start off with Charms, Potions and Broom Flying classes in year one, and another class or two is added with each new year, plus you can take part-time roles with the hospital wing and at the Three Broomsticks. Quidditch was added to the available activities in September 2019.
  • As per the Japanese Education System, Yandere Simulator prevents you from being this, as clubs in Japanese high schools are seen as too time-consuming to take more than one. The club leaders will prevent you from joining more than one club, likely due to concern for your educational performance. The gameplay reason is to keep you from getting overpowered from using each club's exclusive power-up. For example, the Light Music Club can increase your popularity and allow you to walk around with instrument cases without suspicion (as you may choose to hide something suspicious in the case, such as a body or a weapon), the Otaku Club decreases your suspicion, the Judo Club increases your fighting potential, and so on. Additionally, if you quit a club, you can not rejoin it, requiring the player to make strategize.

    Web Comics 
  • Head Trip in its collection of oddball superheroes has one built upon this concept — "Hot Topic Avenger".
  • Suzy from Paranatural is enthusiastic about the journalism club and frighteningly aggressive about recruiting the protagonist to said club
  • In the flashback to When Walky Met Dorothy in Joyce and Walky!, Billie describes Dorothy as "Honors Club, school newspaper staff, she's in orchestra, and she's president of the Friendly Helpers".

    Web Original 
  • So-and-So in Teen Girl Squad is a stereotypical overachieving preppy, and in Issue 15 she claims "I was on every committee ever!" with a manic look on her face.
  • Mira of Trials & Trebuchets sees extracurriculars as an opportunity to meet new people and make friends, and has joined multiple clubs in order to do so.

    Western Animation 
  • As part of her incredible-overachiever character design, Kim Possible is involved with or in charge of just about everything in Middleton High short of being a supply teacher, though most of these are merely referred to unless they're significant to the episode.
  • Victoria Best of WordGirl is a negative example. She's forced by her parents to be "the best" at every activity. She's genuinely good at all of them, and flaunts her overachieving, but is a bratty, egotistical and narcissistic jerk and a Sore Loser.
  • Jodie from Daria. However, in many cases it's not because she wants to do these activities so much as her parents want her to and she feels obliged to prove herself capable. This makes her a Foil for Daria, who's Brilliant, but Lazy.

    Real Life 
  • In Penny Eckert's famous study of Jocks and Burnouts, this is the defining characteristic of Jocks (that is, people very invested in the institution, not specifically in terms of sports. Someone who is in band, choir, and theater for instance would be a Jock under this definition).

Alternative Title(s): The Keener

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