Tallwood High School is highly known for its Global Studies and World Languages Academy, providing multiple unique classes for every student to enjoy. But, as a student, I feel like Tallwood is missing something. Many students leave graduate high school with their minds filled with unnecessary knowledge in math, science, English and other languages leaving many students lost when it comes to college and life outside of their parents home. So, Tallwood High School should implement a class that teaches students basic but helpful things in life, Life 101, a class in which students would learn how to change a tire, cook low budget meals, and how to use core class knowledge in real life scenarios. All of these skills are so simple but very necessary for life, and it is important for them to be taught in High School.
Many Principles and School Staff feel confident that the majority of their students are prepared for adult life, while many of us, as students, feel anxious and worried about what will happen after we cross the stage. Students can’t help but wonder what the future holds for them. Some don’t even know what they want to do in the future or how they’ll make enough funds to have a comfortable lifestyle. We spend 90% of our high school careers overthinking the work we do and wondering if it will lead us to a successful path. This is a major issue which could be easily prevented by Life 101; students, parents, and teachers can be confident that when we leave High School we are capable and confident about our next chapter.
School is stressful. Between High-level classes, homework, jobs, sports, or clubs many upperclassmen have no time for stress-free breaks during the school year; the Life 101 class would provide students with an additional class, but in return it would give students a stress-free environment and helpful outlet to express their feelings about core class material and subjects. Students often don’t try in classes that they deem “unnecessary,” and there are many aspects of core classes that are seen as unnecessary but are truly vital for the real world; in this class everything they do would be painted in to a real world scenario so they can see exactly how, when, and why they would use these skills and knowledge in the future. It would leave students feeling like their time isn’t being wasted by random English and Science facts and would make them even more eager to learn.
Many people would say that a class like Life 101 would take away the focus from core classes, but this is not the case. Life 101 wouldn’t take away a student’s focus from core classes; it would enhance the focus. Life 101 classes would use what a student is learning in class right now, or what they have already learned, and teach them how this information can be applied to real life situations. This would help students see core classes as helpful and a way to prepare them ultimately resulting in better, stronger focus. Another thing people might say about life 101 is that it is a waste of time and children should be learning this from their parents, but many parents do not have time to teach their children all of the basic life skills before they graduate and if students are in school for seven hours they should have plenty of time for learning life skills.
Overall, this class would be a necessity in a student’s schedule, allowing us to learn future skills that provide us with reassurance on our knowledge of life. Skills like being able to change a tire on our own without dropping hundreds of dollars, getting out of life-altering situations, or how to deal with emotions while being under pressure are essential to the way of life. With this knowledge, we have the ability to graduate knowing that high school wasn’t a complete waste of time and even though school work seemed pointless it all had a purpose in the end.
