When you’re sitting in class, do you ever think to yourself, “When am I ever going to use this in the future?” Throughout my high school years, I’ve asked myself this question probably a hundred times. After doing some research and more in-depth thinking, I’ve came to the idea that students aren’t required to take important classes, such as Career and Life Planning or Personal Finance. Classes like these should be required curriculum in schools to teach students valuable life skills and lessons and to set them up for the reality of their futures.

Career and Life Planning was one of my favorite classes that I took sophomore year. As an underclassman I hadn’t thought much about what I want to do after high school and then continue as a career after college. This class should be required for either sophomore or junior year of high school. We spent many class periods learning about college and the money that goes into in-state and out-of-state colleges that you may be considering. We also spent a majority of classes learning about our learning style and everyone’s own personalities traits to help us find careers that could fit us best. Also, for our semester final, we were required to schedule and do a job shadow about a job that we had thought about doing before. This helped a lot of people decide if they weren’t interested a specific job anymore because the job shadow wasn’t their best fit.

Additionally, classes like Personal Finance and other business-type classes are important as well. They help students learn efficient ways to save and handle their money. Knowing how to save your money for college or life after high school is important because students need to know how to manage their money for the rest of their lives. Paying for college and even life after college can be scary to think about, so having knowledge of how to handle it can be very beneficial.

Having so many students question the point of school or not take their classes seriously shouldn’t continue much longer. Schools offer so many valuable courses that a good amount of students either don’t know about or don’t care to take. It’s hard to realize the importance of a few classes that are labeled electives or optional, when really they can offer much more than that. Adding just a couple of classes for sophomores or juniors can be more effective for their future than receiving an A in a math class, especially if they don’t plan on doing anything in a math related field. Schools should rethink the required classes for students and think about what we will actually need to know for the rest of our lives.