The Real World

For four years during high school, we learn the principles of science and math. How to solve for x in a polynomial equation. But as a volunteer engineer for a manufacturing factory during my sophomore year, I found that the typical high school curriculum is just not enough to prepare students for the real world. Our schools have become too old-fashioned. Today, success in the real world is not about memorizing the periodic table or the quadratic equation. It's not about studying for hours the night before a test to get a 100 percent, then forget it all the next week. School should be about how to apply these sciences and arts to the real world. In the real world, if you need to know something for your job, you look it up online. High school shouldn't focus so much on memorization; we can leave that work to machines that are better at it. It would be impossible and unnecessary for a person to memorize all the information the Internet has to offer. However it is important for students to learn how to quickly access information online and apply it to real-world situations.

Now that I've had a taste of the real world, I believe high school and college should be more hands-on and based on applied sciences. I think as more of our generation enter the real world, they will agree. To learn the most important working skills, students can job shadow, volunteer in their intended industry, or tinker with things themselves, such as computers, mechanics, art, or even manage activities and events. But with seven hours of school plus sports and homework, who has the time for independent study? These skills really belong in school. Classes in high school should revolve around career fields such as scientific research, health care, engineering, business, arts, and communication (teaching and politics). This would help us choose careers we are actually interested in. Each class should open its doors and let education meet reality by applying what they teach to