They say high school is the best four years of your life. This is where you do most of your growing up. It's where you decide what you want to do with your life and who you want to be. However, they don't really teach you how to get there. Obviously we have seven classes each year, but it's nothing that will really help me be successful. There are so many things that I should have been taught in high school for a successful future.

1. How to write a check

Once you graduate high school, it's time to start making adult decisions and purchases, but how do I do that if no one ever taught me the proper way to write a check?

2. How to budget money

I'm usually pretty good about budgeting and saving my money -- however, things change when you get into the real world. Once you settle into a career, there are so many other things you have to worry about so you have to know how to really budget your money.

3. Using credit cards

There are so many other things to consider when it comes to credit cards. For example, credit cards affect your credit, which can make or break you. Also, how am I supposed to know what a good interest rate for myself is?

4. Applying for jobs

I've come across many jobs that have asked for resumes. For a while, I didn't know the correct format of a resume and I had no idea what the purpose of a cover letter was.

5. Anything about taxes

Because honestly, tax documents just completely confuse me.

6. Retirement planning

I may be very young, but I still should know what to do when the time comes to discuss retirement.

7. Self-defense

So, hear me out. Instead of the goofy games they force you to play in P.E., why not teach us useful skills like self-defense? It's a crazy world out there with crazy people so it would definitely come in handy.

8. Time management

We all procrastinate, just admit it. However, once you get into a career and into your college degree, procrastination just doesn't fly. We need to know how to plan and use our time wisely in order to finish everything on time, while also having time to relax.

9. Maintaining your health

I'm definitely not the healthiest person whatsoever, but health class should teach us more about taking care of ourselves mentally and physically, rather than just tiptoeing around the big issues.

10. First aid

Another thing that should have been taught in health classes was basic first aid. If someone has more than a small cut, I wouldn't know how to help them, or at least assist them until a real doctor can be reached.

11. Smart shopping

Coupons aren't just for the grandmas. I need to know what I can do to buy the most by spending the least.

12. How to plan for married/parent life

Obviously it's not as simple as giving me a list or telling me what life will be like, but some sort of preparation for the big changes and financial situation of having a family would be so helpful.

13. Navigating relationships

Something that was touched on in high school was toxic relationships. However, I wish it could have been more in depth. How do I identify those toxic friendships and relationships? How do I handle that?

14. Respect for every other person out there

In today's society, this is something that needed to be said. Younger generations need to be taught how to have respect for other people, no matter what.

Maybe some of these things seem crazy to you, but I think high school should prepare us more for the real world. I felt as if I had just been thrown into life after graduation. I had to rely on the almighty Google to help me with so many things because there were so many things I just didn't know how to do on my own. These things would just be more useful to me than solving 6 different mathematical equations in order to find the value of x.