Education is important. In high school I learned about biology, algebra, history, and even music. High school was a treasure trove of information about the world. But, to be honest, I've probably forgotten most of that information. Despite what my teachers have told me, I've never once had to do math problems with imaginary numbers in my regular day.
I'm not saying it isn't important to learn these skills. But, looking back now as a Junior in college, I've realized that there are a lot of things I never learned how to do in High School that would've made transitioning into an adult so much easier.
1. How to file your taxes.
Okay did anyone learn how to do this in public hHigh school? Because when it comes to paying taxes I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. In fact, I don't even know what "W-2" means. I just know that's what I call that paper with my yearly income information. If it wasn't for my dad walking me through the process every year I'm pretty sure the IRS would've thrown me in jail by now.
2. Grammar.
Okay, this one might be cheating since I did learn some grammar in high school. However, the last grammar lesson I had was at the beginning of ninth grade. Barring my freshman year, that's three years of High School without being taught any grammar! Knowing the rules of writing can save you from making a fool out of yourself. Trust me, there's a huge difference between "I like eating, cats, and the color purple" and "I like eating cats and the color purple".
3. How to think for myself.
Here's how the bulk of the information I learned in high school was taught.
Step 1: Memorize facts A, B, and C.
Step 2: Write down facts A, B, and C with their corresponding questions on the test sheet.
Step 3: Receive a grade that describes your intelligence based on how well you memorized facts A, B, and C.
Step 4: You are now free to forget facts A, B, and C at your leisure.
Where is the part where I learn how to think? "Not included" you say? What about the part where I learn how to connect my new knowledge to the real world? What do you mean that's not included either?
Passing high school is all about memorizing and regurgitating information. Though the music and theater classes I took encouraged new ideas, I wasn't taught about the importance of thinking for myself until long after I graduated.
4. How to succeed without going to college.
College is awesome. I've learned so much more than I ever thought I would and I've started to figure out where I want to go with my life.
However, if I didn't have college I wouldn't have a clue how I would be surviving life after high school. All four years of High School my teachers drilled the importance of higher education into my head. But what happens to people who can't afford college? How do they get ahead in life? Not once in those four years of High School was I taught about what to do after I graduate other than go to college. But, how do you fulfill your dreams if you can't afford to?
5. How to cook.
Unfortunately, man cannot live on Taco Bell alone. I remember taking a health class in my Freshman year of high school where I learned what the labels on the packages of food meant and what the proper daily intake is of sodium, sugar, and other things like that. Other than that though my cooking experience was pretty limited.
Cooking is one of those things that you really have to spend a lot of time practicing. It's not something you can master right away but it would have been nice to at least learn the basics.
6. How to do basic clothing repair.
Learning how to sew a button is a relatively simple skill. It's also one that I never learned how to do in high school. I also had no idea how to work a sewing machine or hem my jeans. Clothes tear, that's how it is. It's important to learn how to fix them.
7. How to handle my finances.
My mother was born and raised in Belgium. In her high school, they took two years of bookkeeping classes. She learned not only how to balance her own checkbook but also how to run a checkbook for a business. I can barely manage to create a budget for one school year. I would've loved to learn how to invest my money and save for the future back when I still had money. But I guess that's something I'll have to learn in college. Or after college... When is it that I won't have debt again?
8. Basic car maintenance.
I'm not saying high school needs to turn me into an engineer, but it would be nice if I could've at least learned how to change my oil. It also would've been nice to know how to jump a car. If my engine ever dies when I'm in the middle of nowhere I'm gonna have a bad time.
9. How voting works.
The ability to vote is one of the most important things about being American. Although, according to the curriculum I had in high school, the voting process isn't important enough to discuss in the classroom. I was never taught how to register to vote or even how voting works. The Electoral College is something that I had never even heard of until the 2012 presidential election. Even then, I didn't receive an explanation for how it works. I need to thank google for teaching me that one.
10. Time Management.
Arguably, one of the most difficult things about growing up is learning how to manage your time. As an adult, your free time is incredibly finite. You constantly need to balance work time and play time.
High school is pretty easy, to be honest. I never really had to schedule much time to research my school projects as they could usually be churned out in just a few hours. It was never important for me to build a schedule around school because it was so easy to balance it with my social life. It doesn't work that way as an adult. Without careful time management it's difficult to balance responsibilities like work, and chores with fun things like hanging out with friends or binge watching Netflix.
