I figured I should get started on this as each blog post is time-stamped and whatnot.

I guess I’ll give my thoughts on my education. Since elementary school I’ve been ingrained with this simple chain of events:

1. Do well in school.

2. Go to college.

3. Get a degree.

4. ?????

5. Profit.

Can someone please tell me what happens in step four? That period when you live on your own and have to pay taxes, pay bills, buy a house, get a job, get an entry level job and work your way up? Yeah students may be educated in the precious art of Human Geography, Music Theory or some other B.S AP class, but we need some experience in the real world. This is my greatest gripe with our education system. I have no idea how to manage money, and live on my own, or what a 401k are- things that actually matter when you get out into the “real world”. And somehow, magically, I suppose, I will walk into the real world with my college degree and a house, a job, a car, and my tax returns will fall onto my lap.

The U.S. education system is based on academia, not functionality. Trade schools and community colleges are looked down upon.  Students are grouped by age and not academic achievement. Higher achieving students slowed down by the lower achieving ones. The lower achieving students are rushed and forced to meet standards.  Students are trained for standardized test from the beginning of their education. Going on Home Access I can view my ITBS and CRCT scores from as long ago as the first grade.  From remedial to AP classes students are taught not for enlightenment and growth, but for a test. (But don’t take this the wrong way Mrs. Smith, I still want a 5 on the AP exam, and my writing has gotten pretty awesome.) Yet I take these classes in order to get into a good college (step 2), not caring about the class, i.e. Human Geography, but for the title- Advanced Placement.

While I’m not exactly a fan of mandatory classes, I think all schools should provide some sort of Personal Finance Class. All students from future doctors to future fast-food workers should learn how to live in the “real world”, the elusive, fictional society students seem to think is so far away until they are thrust into it.  And as a student I will now put off worrying about the real world to study for my AP exams.