Youth advisory boards by stephanie

Youth advisory boards by stephanie - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

Stephanie smith
Varsity scholars
June 12, 2025
Include a career readiness program!
I believe that all high school students should be taught how to be in a leadership role. I say this since I have accomplished a lot by being involved in the community. If more people had a class that showed them how to work together and alone that would benefit a lot of kids who struggle with either or both. Along with that being in a group like an actual youth advisory board could show kids what it is like to be in one while showing them real world skills. for example, I have learned to be a better note taker, group collaborator and how to better manage work I was given. I think that it should become a class since so many kids around my age (15-17) do not have these skills that make or break getting that job you really wanted or being able to afford something big.
I think that things in school should teach people how to thrive in the world, how to get a job and basic knowledge (cooking, cleaning clothes etc.) which you need to know how to do all of these things if you expect to live alone or with others. If schools taught kids these lessons early on, I think it could prevent dept, depression, drug use, alcoholism along with other things adults face to this day due to the lack of knowledge they were given. If school were more targeted in future preparedness, then a lot of people would be in a better stance and hopefully struggle less. This is why I think that there should be a future readiness curriculum. If we can start our youth with a start, we will have more kids going into adulthood with knowledge instead of questions with no answers.
Another thing that could be included would be financial literacy since studies have shown that 28% of adults struggle with finances in the U.S. Sure that could seem small but how many Americans are in the U.S? there is over 258 million adults in the U.S which that means a lot of adults struggle with finances. But if there were programs inside schools that could lower the number immensely by providing what future adults need to succeed, they would thrive knowing how to budget or how effectively use loans. Learning about things like this may be boring but it will be useful in the future rather than taking electives that may not be useful for the future.
To sum up everything that has been stated so far. School needs to include a curriculum that helps kids better understand the world and how to thrive in such an environment. It is important since it has been proven that adults still struggle commonly due to lack of knowledge. In doing so it could lead to a decrease in confusion finances and lead to more people getting lead to success instead of being left with confusion and dept.