At school where taught some amazingly irrelevant things;
Inadvertently, I learned a few things besides the curricula;
I wish I had learned the following skills, but instead have had to learn them the hard way, in real life situations.
- Leisure Studies - because apparently in the future, everything would be so automated that we would have an abundance of leisure hours, and we should know how to manage that properly.
- How to make a salad roll. Wearing an apron.
Inadvertently, I learned a few things besides the curricula;
- Pick your battles. Even if you are right, don't take on the school bully, especially when surrounded by her aggressive clique. You can be smugly right and uninjured, it's OK.
- If your language teacher swears at the students, the right thing to do is speak up, even if no one believes you.
- How to smoke cigarettes without getting caught (most of the time).
- Obstacle courses and Dodge Ball really are metaphors for life, it is better to participate than sit on the bench because it is 'that time of the month'.
I wish I had learned the following skills, but instead have had to learn them the hard way, in real life situations.
- Smoking Cigarettes is ruinous to your health, especially if you are prone to asthma.
- How to budget and manage money. This is a work in progress, and the exams are constant. Learning about compound interest is all well and good, but where was the lesson on making $25 pay for groceries for a week?
- Self Defense. Why is this not taught at school? It would be so much handier than ice skating.
- Relationships 101. Many adults still do not have the basics, and high schoolers need it more than anyone. Results are great, but relationships are king.
- Comparative Religion. I find this such an interesting subject, but when I was at school, you where Catholic or Anglican. I think things have changed, thank the goddess.
- Real Estate Basics. You either buy or rent, and both have quite detailed steps and hidden tricks. These lessons are expensive to learn later in life.
I think the most important lesson I learned was this - The world is wide and wonderful place, nothing like the crap you learned in Social Studies or the options you where given for Work Experience.
What pearls of wisdom did you have to learn the hard way? (Was is smoking cigarettes behind the incinerator? Because that totally works.)
What pearls of wisdom did you have to learn the hard way? (Was is smoking cigarettes behind the incinerator? Because that totally works.)
