Financial Awareness by Lauren
Laurenof Gorham's entry into Varsity Tutor's October 2016 scholarship contest
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Financial Awareness by Lauren - October 2016 Scholarship Essay
For my entire school career, there was not once where I learned how to write a check, balance a checkbook, pay monthly bills, or keep track of money financially. What are students supposed to do when they get out of high school and college and enter the real world? More importantly, how are we going to know how to pay back college loans, and know how much debt we will all be in by the time we graduate from college? I feel that teaching students real-life financial situations should be part of the school required curriculum.
If roles were reversed, I would love to teach a math class that primarily focused on teaching students about financial problems and tasks. Many students and young adults today do not know how to keep track of finances. It is important to know about how student loans work and how to budget. Most teens entering college don’t realize how much money college actually costs and how much debt they might be in when they graduate. Another aspect that most students don’t understand is about the interest that will build up on their loans. I feel that teaching students about the financial side of things is very important so they have an understanding of the real-world.
Another example of where an understanding of finances would come in handy is when they go out and get a credit card. There are many unknown fees to credit cards that you would only catch if you read all of the fine print and understood what it was saying. Not knowing all the hidden information about whatever it is can be very dangerous. Credit card balances can keep adding up, which creates a larger debt on just that one credit card. If you do not pay enough each month or go over the credit line, many fees will be charged to your account, which adds to the balance. Credit cards can be dangerous to teens and college students who are not educated about them and will get hurt financially. It may even get themselves into a major problem that will take large amounts of money to fix.
Personal finance mistakes are more likely to happen to students who are uneducated about financial information. If I was the teacher, I would choose to teach every high school student about finances so when they get out in the real-world, it doesn’t hit them as hard and when it does hit, they are more prepared and have an understanding of what to do in that situation.