While elementary school does a great job to prepare students for high school, and high school prepares students for the SATs and college, nobody teaches students how to prepare for life.

Every student is prepared with multiple subjects. We are taught math to learn how to work with numbers, which is ultimately easy to grasp (until they started to throw in imaginary numbers). We had geometry, which was great if you wanted to go into architecture or even engineering.

Students learn about biology, chemistry, physics and life sciences. Unless a student grows up to be a chemist or a doctor, though, these subjects tend to get lost on them. Also, if a student does not grow up to be a botanist, how valuable is it to know that (say it with me!) the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell?

We were taught history, because it is good to know how we came to be. And, those who do not learn history are destined to repeat it.

Students are taught writing and verbal skills, which is possibly the most valuable of everything they learn. These skills are used in everyday life, even more so when they are constantly texting or posting on social media.

These are not the subjects I wish I had learned, though. As happy as I am that I was prepared for high school and college, I am terrified of my college graduation date that continues to get closer.

I don't know how to survive in the real world. Here are some of the things I wish I had learned in school:

I wish I had learned how to balance a checkbook.

I wish I had learned how to do my taxes.

I wish I had learned how to mend a pair of pants or a shirt.

I wish I had learned how to actually cook.

I wish I had learned more about the way our government works.

I wish I had learned to take out a loan and exactly how interest rates work.

I wish I had learned the real value of voting.

I wish I had learned how to read and understand a contract.

I wish I had learned what rights I have and when my rights are being violated.

I wish I had learned how to actually cope with life and live it successfully, without fumbling along the way as if I skipped the tutorial.

While the skills we learned in school are valuable to the job market and higher education, students are never taught how to deal with real life.

Teachers and students, work with your school and try to implement a life skills class!

Sincerely,

Someone really in fear of the real world.