Is high school becoming less important as generations of students continue to flow through the system? Are high schoolers truly getting everything that they need out of their high school experience? It seems that more often than not, students ask themselves why they need to take these certain classes to graduate when they don’t authentically get anything out of them. Furthermore, many of these classes often have no relation to what these students wish to do in life, so what is the point?

When sitting in most math classes, one could almost always hear some kid mumbling in the back, “when will I ever use this?” This phrase has become many students’ motto throughout their trek of high school. Why don’t we learn how to pay taxes, successfully do job interviews, or buy a house? Many of the students I talk to today ask why they have to take the classes that are required of them if they will never use the information again or if it doesn’t apply to what they want to do in life.

After doing some thorough research, the Living on Your Own class, offered at Air Academy seems to answer many of our burning questions. Mrs. Armstrong, who teaches this life course, provides details when asked the following questions:

Do you think this is one of the more important classes to take in high school?

“So much more important that I feel that every student should take this as a required course. I have had former students who come back and thank me because they are now living out what I taught them.”  

What are students taught in this course?

“We learn about budgeting big-time, how to live within your means for a month while being able to pay your bills. We are learning about how to do interviews now, about how to land a job; that is very important. We learn a unit on apartments and how you go about renting and knowing how to cook on a budget. They learn about reality, life in general because that’s huge. Whether you’re going to college, you’re going into the military, or you’re not going to further your education, I hone that information on fitting all of those aspects. It really is ‘in-your-face’ reality and real-world.”

What is the big takeaway from this class? What can students take out of this class?

“When they leave my room, they are going to feel confident living on their own. You will remember this class. How do I know this? Former students have personally emailed me, come in, or have a sibling who is in the class who have said thank you and that this stuff actually applies to their world now.”

Yes, even though many of us go through high school asking all the same questions on whether or not we will ever use this material in our lives, there is still hope out there for us. If you are like me, and have a hard time finding why high school is important to you, I would highly recommend taking the Living On Your Own course. It will equip you and will have the answers to questions you will ask once out in the real world.