Let’s say you are a broke college student and a pipe under your sink is leaking. All you have to work with is duct tape, a piece of string and super glue. How do you fix it yourself? Don’t worry; I wouldn’t know either considering “Creative Thinking” or “MacGyvering Random Appliances 101” were not classes offered in high school. I thank my lucky star, however, I know the Pythagorean Theorem that I have used zero times throughout my college experience.
College is supposed to be the hardest time of our lives. We are broke, stressed and trying to find our place in the world. High school is a place to educate us on how to properly manage the next phase in our journey. Sure, it prepared us for the academic section of college life, but failed to teach us about practical applications.
Taxes are something high school did not prepare me for. Instead of attempting this process myself, I ever so sweetly bat my eyes at my father and say “pretty please?” To me this is tremendously sad. Instead of acting like an adult, I hid behind my extremely lush and fabulous eyelashes to do the job for me. I would not know where to begin. Do I use the computer? How long will it take? What information do I need to gather? Do I need to take my socks off so I can use all of my fingers and toes to count?
Recently, there have been a number of abductions from different campuses across the country. At this point in time I am too poor to afford a happy meal from McDonalds let alone something to defend myself with. I hate to break it to you high school, but my 5’2’’ frame does not react like a ninja on steroids.
I would like to think if I were to be attacked I would be strong and fight back. But honestly, I would probably curl up into the fetal position and begin sucking my thumb like an infant wanting their mommy. Self-defense classes would be extremely beneficial not only to women, but to men as well.
We also should have been taught basic emergency procedures besides stop, drop and roll. Many teens do not know how to jump start a car or have a well-stocked first aid kit lying around. A friend of mine called me the other day asking what to do for a deep cut made by glass. My answer was “slap a little Neosporin and Windex on it, you’ll be fine.” In retrospect, that was terrible advice. Perhaps if schools had a basic first aid class my answer would have been closer to “Go to the hospital for stitches before you get scars like the joker.”
The list of practical applications that should be taught in high school is never-ending. Subjects such as how to check a credit score, how to answer tough interview questions and how to network would have been essential skills that college students could apply throughout their college life. Remember, when faced with a difficult task just ask yourself, “What would MacGyver do?”
