A couple of months ago, the seniors at my high school got a very special opportunity to learn all about the power of our money! We got taught about the reality of the money we spend every day and what can happen if we don’t take care of it. Our school teamed up with the State Employee’s Credit Union (SECU) for the day and participated in a simulation, teaching us all about the value of the dollar. This was a very special event for us because we all are about to enter the workforce as adults.

Walking into the gymnasium, we had no idea what to expect from today. We walked out knowing a lot more about what to do with our money. At the beginning of our adventure, we all got a career simulation card. I was a cook that made $1,145 a month and that didn’t finish high school. I was also single, and I had a five-year-old daughter. Oh, I also had the luck of the draw to receive a bad credit score. I thought "Dang. This sucks." But then I thought… "Why is my struggle so much different from others?" People do this every single day in real life, where they can’t escape after one class period.

I started at the entertainment station, which I probably should have done last in hindsight. Then I made my way to the clothing, childcare, food and housing stations. By the time I was at the transportation station, I basically had no money left. I had thought I could really buckle down and do this, but oh boy was I wrong on that one. I ended up at the HELP ME station a couple times, and it did not feel great. In the end, I was still living with my parents, shopping at thrift stores (which is not a bad idea friends!!), being on food stamps, and having child support. I was shocked when I walked back over to my friends, and most of them had actually ended up in the same position as I had! It was not a fun way to live, but unfortunately, it is a life that some people are faced with.

I learned some pretty important lessons from our simulation today. I realized that graduating high school is really the best thing that you can do to better yourself for the future, and it gave me so much motivation to push through those last few month until I walked across the stage. I also picked up that having bad credit does not make you a bad person. Anyone can have bad credit, and there are always ways to change it. Another thing I learned today is that life can throw you some pretty hard curveballs sometimes. You have to push through the bad times and celebrate the good. That is something we can all remember. There is so much bad in the world today and if we all do our part of staying positive and helping other, it will be so much better in the long run.