Throughout our lives, we’re given the chance to develop ourselves in different ways. One such way is by developing our talents and skills. Though similar and, at times, interchanged, the two are very different. Talents are often defined as an ability that is natural to us and something that doesn’t take much effort to perform, though that is not to say that it doesn’t require practice. Certain talents are also only possessed by a small portion of the population, and some even consider them unteachable. On the other hand, skills are defined as the ability to perform a task efficiently. These can be possessed by anyone and, just like talents, need development (Surbhi, 2016, & The Upwork Team, 2023).

Our school offers many opportunities to hone our talents and skills, from academic performance tasks to production teams. One of the most prominent ways, however, is through an extra-curricular program where students can pick any class of their interest and, for the year, learn, practice, and showcase the skills in that class. It’s a required class and in my case, I’ve only ever been in two types of classes: Culinary Arts for two years and Chorale (or Choir) for 6 years. But within those classes, I’ve managed to gather many experiences which have helped me along the way.

While the program is marketed as a way to hone talents, it can also develop skills that are useful to the students, should they be open-minded enough to learn from it. This is proof that learning talents and skills can go hand in hand. To further prove this, I shall be using my own experiences in the different extra-curricular classes I’ve been in: (Grade School) Culinary, (Grade School) Chorale Intermediate, Grade School Chorale Varsity, (High School) Chorale Beginner, (High School) Chorale Intermediate, and High School Chorale Varsity.

For this essay, I will be categorizing all the classes I’ve been in into three categories: developing skills, developing talents, and developing both skills and talents. Given the fine line between the terms, aside from the aforementioned definitions, I will be defining skills based on things that I can use outside of the given class and in a more general setting and talents as something specific to that innate ability. As for those that can develop both, these will include classes wherein I managed to learn or improve both skills and talents.

First, I can categorize my Culinary and High School Chorale Beginner and Intermediate years under classes that develop skills. Culinary taught me how to listen more attentively, as we had to be able to follow discussions to know what to do, as well as how to be more courageous in trying new things, as it was my first time cooking in a kitchen with people I did not know, which would be the first step in learning to socialize. At the same time, Chorale Beginner and Intermediate boosted my confidence and taught me to be organized, responsible, and communicative, a skill which helped me in my academics when it came to submitting quality work on time and reciting in class. Furthermore, perhaps one of the most important things I got to develop in these classes was my leadership skills. Though I wasn’t an official leader in Culinary, I was present enough to be selected to receive an award for it. Additionally, during my Chorale years, I was class president and had to lead the class through talent fests and recitals. This would specifically help me during the following year when I became a Homeroom officer. For me, these classes were very specific in developing skills as Culinary (in Grade School) didn’t teach much on hands-on cooking and focused more on demonstrations and Chorale (in High School) focused more on the basics, which were things that I already knew.

Second, I can categorize my (Grade School) Chorale Intermediate year under classes that develop talents. This was my very first year in Chorale and while I knew how to sing (in the sense that I could sing notes correctly), this was the first time I learned the basics of singing. I learned the proper techniques in singing, how to breathe well, and how to work with a choir. Additionally, this was when I was first classified as an Alto, which would be my voice classification for the rest of my time in the Center and something that would develop my voice. During my time in this class, I didn’t focus too much on developing skills and whatnot, partially because I was caught up in my love for singing, and partially because I didn’t care much about developing skills. While one could argue that I did develop confidence, I don’t believe the change was significant enough as it didn’t help me in the following year. It took me years to gain it and was mainly through other means.

Lastly, I can categorize my Grade School and High School Chorale Varsity years under classes that develop both skills and talents. In both scenarios, I further developed my talent for singing through learning new techniques and continuous practice (especially given varsity has multiple training sessions per week). It’s especially more significant now, as I’m able to detect the changes in my voice. My ability to sight-read and hear when a note is off has also grown. In addition to this, these experiences taught me self-discipline, diligence, humility, patience, and perseverance, all skills that have proven useful over the years, whether that be getting through a week filled with academic deadlines or simply going through the day when I’m not feeling at my 100%.

This extra-curricular program is the perfect example of how learning a talent and learning a skill can go hand in hand. Next time we develop or practice a talent of ours, no matter what kind, as long as we are aware and conscious of how we are learning, then it won’t be for nothing. Even if it’s something a person chooses not to pursue in the future, it doesn’t mean that everything we learn gets wasted. It simply takes another form. All we must do is be open-minded to the possibilities.