five classes I wish I had in highschool

Since graduating high school so long ago, whenever I have encountered a problem, I have always said, "Man, instead of stupid non-existent Math, they should have taught me that in school." Most people have agreed with me, and some have said, "well, that's what college is for."

I usually laugh, but then think that college is where you learn about your alcohol limits, learn to procrastinate, and teach your body how to run on Red Bull and two hours of sleep. I could give you a long list about what college taught me, but instead I am going to talk about five classes that should have been taught in high school along side of English and History, instead of Pre-Calc.

College Planning 101

I really wish I could have been offered a college planning class in high school, because when I got to college, it was a whole new idea to me. For starters, I didn't understand student loans & interest rates- the majority of my college career was financed through private and government student loans, and now that I am so in debt (I spent 8 years in undergrad and another 1.5 in grad school) I really wish that someone would have taught me that a $20,000 private loan would become a $40,000 problem in 8-10 years. Another thing that I wish someone would have taught me was the fact that I didn't have to go to college. I know that it would be weird to talk about in a college planning class, but why not offer the idea that you don't have to have a degree to be happy or successful. And the last thing that I would have learned is the difference between types of degrees before I graduated high school. 

Financial Planning 101

I've heard that schools actually offer some type of classes like Financial Planning, but it doesn't include EVERYTHING that could fall under the large category like how to save money, investing, credit cards (interest rate, credit utilization, fees, where to get a free credit report, etc), tips on credit scores, when to file bankruptcy, etc. 

Budgeting 101

The one thing that my parents never taught me was how to budget my bills. Sure, they taught me that that I needed to pay my bills, and if that meant I was poor until the next payday, then I was. I wish that I could have had a class in school that would have taught me how to budget, and the different methods that would help me develop a budget, rather than having to live pay check to pay check for the rest of my life. *I know this one could fall under Financial Planning 101, but honestly there is so much that goes into budgeting, and I would have loved it as a separate class. 

Car Maintenance 101

I am firm believer that if you are a licensed driver, then you need to know how to change a tire, but that is rarely the case. I think that every school needs to offer a mandatory car maintenance class to teach everyone the basics- tire changing, checking the fluids, tire pressure, etc.

Life Hacks 101

Honestly this class would be like Google, in a sense. Other than teaching you some skills that you should know in life, Life Hacks 101 would also teach you things like when's the best time to buy airline tickets, best & cheapest places to travel, which countries don't have extradition (you know, just in case), how to waterproof shoes, and more. It would be like teaching a form of street smarts to books smart kids. 

Which class do you wish you had in High School?

*photo credit