Based on a series of interviews with students registered in various public higher education courses, this article focuses on students who engage in activities outside of their schooling. Coming from the middle and upper classes, as well as being academically able, these students have been socialized from an early age to engage in one or more extracurricular activity through which they have acquired useful knowledge for university. Once in higher education, these young people pursue extracurricular activities which they mobilize according to two conceptions. Firstly, a “free” one, in which students declare that they practice these activities out of “passion”. Secondly a “calculated” one, in which extracurricular activities are presented as an investment in the success of their studies and future professional careers. This article thus shows how extracurricular activities can help to reinforce early success paths.