Remember when elementary school teachers would tell us, “You need to learn this, because it will be important later down the road.” Well, nearly a decade has passed, and I still find myself waiting for cursive writing or the quadratic formula to come in handy.
Flash forward to college, and professors are still saying a similar thing. While I respect the importance of having a cross-disciplinary understanding of different fields, I cannot help but wonder why I know how to solve for X in a polynomial equation or calculate the diameter of the moon, but can’t even properly fill out a W-4 tax form.
While many universities do offer electives that teach more practical, real-world applicable skills, these classes should be part of the required core curriculum instead of optional courses.
A Huffington Post article addressed a similar issue regarding “7 Things We Should Start Teaching in School ASAP.” This article emphasizes everything from the need for classes that teach students how to do their own taxes, to basic emergency-response medical training.
Higher education is intended to prepare graduates, both professionally and personally, before embarking down their designated career path. While I believe that my courses at ASU have prepared me well to pursue my intended career path, I am still not confident in my ability to handle other elements of adulthood.
Landing a job is the first step, and I think ASU has definitely prepared many of its graduates to do so successfully. However, the proceeding steps involve filling out paperwork that most of us don’t understand, money that we don’t know how to handle, and tax refunds that we don’t know how to file for. Instead of having to make a phone call home to mommy and daddy for help, universities should be teaching students how to do this on their own.
Interestingly enough, there are high schools that do a better job in emphasizing the importance of skills that are applicable outside of the workplace. Some high school students are required to take basic coding courses, pass a CPR certification test, or learn the basics of personal finance. Unfortunately, those skills didn’t seem to resonate with us back then as well as they would today. As a senior, I am beginning to worry that not knowing these types of things will hurt me later down the road.
Ideally, all high schools would require practical life skills courses, but the truth is that this information will not resonate with teenagers who have not yet reached the appropriate level of maturity.
As humans, knowing how to save the life of someone choking should come before knowing how to solve an equation. Understanding our rights against police officers should come before understanding a Shakespearean sonnet. While you can argue that anyone who really wants to learn this stuff can individually pursue that knowledge elsewhere, all I am saying is that including this type of information in our core curriculum would benefit us a lot more in the real-world than the current requirements.
Speak up now, or we may never see these skills incorporated into the classroom.
Reach the columnist at ralynch3@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @ryguy916
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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