How to do taxes. Credit cards and how they work. The differences between renting and buying a house or apartment. How to pay for college, what FAFSA is, and the difference between grants and loans. 

These are things that we should be learning in high school. Unfortunately, the reality is that so many of us after graduation find ourselves lacking basic adult knowledge that we should’ve been taught. And although we may think that it isn’t, our school system is failing us. Almost nobody will ever need to use the horizontal and vertical asymptotes of a function in real life, but we’re being taught so much of this semi-useless information in school when we should be focusing more on our future and adulthood.

Right after graduating from high school, we’re thrust into the real world, with many of us leaving our parents’ or guardians’ homes to live on our own. In high school, there are no classes that teach us important life skills that we need to have in order to thrive outside in society.

Don’t get me wrong, some information learned in math is applicable, such as tipping in restaurants or figuring out interest. But a majority of skills that we need to learn about are simply not taught to us when that’s what we should be learning the most. 

Many students require some type of financial aid to attend college, as it’s very expensive. In high school, we aren’t taught about how to apply for financial aid or even helpful scholarships unless we ask our guidance counselors. We hear so much about FAFSA, but don’t really know what it is. How do you start the college application process? 

As a junior, I’m starting to think more about my future and what I need to do as an adult. Even though I still have a little ways to go before leaving high school, I have so many questions about life after graduation and a lot of uncertainty about whether or not I’ll thrive out of my family’s home.

We don’t have to have a whole year-long class that teaches us about taxes or credit, but even having it as an elective-type of course that you can go to once a week for a semester would be extremely beneficial.

A lot of students might have parents to talk to or ask questions about these subjects, but there are many that may not have parent figures or adults to look up to or talk to. Sometimes they’re scared to speak up or ask their counselors or teachers. These kinds of classes should be provided in order to help our generation become more confident and thrive after high school, whether that’s moving out of the nest and living alone, going to college, getting a job, or enlisting in one of the forces.