The Unexpected Benefits of Dungeons & Dragons as a Required Class by Isabella

The Unexpected Benefits of Dungeons & Dragons as a Required Class by Isabella - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

There are many extracurriculars and electives that seem like excellent choices for becoming full, required classes, such as robotics and journalism, but perhaps a more unconventional activity would be Dungeons & Dragons. The tabletop game is often thought of now as a relaxing game for friends or family to come together and act out stories with characters they’ve created, but it can offer much more than that. If Dungeons & Dragons were to become a class, it can provide students with countless benefits, particularly skills that can be applied outside the classroom.

One of the core parts of Dungeons & Dragons that is beneficial for students to learn is community and teamwork. For every campaign, or story, you play in, you will play with groups of varying sizes and players, both old and new. No matter how big or small a group is or how knowledgeable someone is of the game, every player brings something unique to the table that can be helpful for other players - having their character’s history be relevant to a certain situation, thus progressing the story further, and having unique abilities that might change the course of a fight or reveal something in the environment. Additionally, communication is vital in many situations, especially when it comes to the fighting and puzzle aspects of the game, so it is important to learn how to work together.

With how vital teamwork and working with varying groups of people is to the game, in class, students will constantly be developing these skills as they play, serving as a good way to prepare them for situations outside the classroom. In professional and academic settings, for instance, people are expected to similarly work in teams of various sizes and backgrounds - skill sets, job position, past experiences, nationality, gender, sexuality, beliefs, and more. Having different perspectives and skills can provide insights that you and other group members may not have thought of before, which can then be applied to whatever a team is working on. Additionally, each member can be delegated to a role based on their abilities (research, creating visuals, presenting, etc.), similar to how each player in Dungeons & Dragons has their own unique role based on the abilities and knowledge of their characters.

Another aspect of Dungeons & Dragons that students can benefit from is critical thinking. Players have to constantly analyze the situations they are in - fighting, solving puzzles, or simply exploring an area and talking with fictional characters - and make decisions based on current information. For example, when fighting, players have to take certain information like their character’s health points, how their peers are faring, and the status of the enemy and make appropriate choices - whether to heal themselves or other players, what magical abilities or weapons they have to use when fighting, etc. As for solving puzzles, players have to put some thought into riddles, use their perception skills (or another relevant skill) to check the surrounding area for any clues, and communicate with their teammates in order to progress.

In all aspects of life, students have to utilize critical thinking in various situations to make decisions. When writing a paper in academic settings, they have to decide which sources are relevant based on similar topics, author credibility, and more. In professional settings, they have to use their own knowledge from past experiences, professional and/or personal, and other external factors, such as feedback from users and other team members, to make decisions on projects or whether or not a company is right for them. A class such as this would serve as one good, fun way for students to practice this skill.

Finally, the class can enhance individual creativity. The game heavily focuses on the player’s characters, so students are given the opportunity to use their imagination when choosing a species, class, and background for their characters. Additionally, for the dungeon masters (the individuals facilitating the story), they can choose to create their own narratives for players to experience instead of the stories created by the company who made the game, which is great for students who love storytelling.

Although some students may think Dungeons & Dragons being a required class would mean there would be some difficulty, it can actually serve as good way to unwind from other more rigorous classes. The assignments can be low-stress, such as creating a character before the end of the week, and the tests could touch on the campaign(s) they are playing, such as defeating the primary antagonist of the story.

Overall, the class would both help build up certain skills for students and be a fun way for them to relax, even when it starts to get stressful near the end of the year. Would you enjoy a class such as this?