By Diego Contreras, Ashley Gil and Diana Morales
Staff Writers
When students at Summit Prep think of the Adulting 101 course, they usually think about taxes, investments and other boring financial jargon; but expeditions teacher Phoenix Lawson explained that the class goes into much more than just economics.
“Every time I tell somebody we’re doing adulting they’re like, oh we’re going to learn how to do taxes? I usually tell them we are going to do a lot more than taxes, I promise you.” Teacher Phoenix explained, “We are learning about all the aspects of money like income, how much debt you’re in, all of that.”
Teacher Phoenix goes on to explain how adulting 101 is not just about financial literacy. There are other parts to being a responsible adult like maintaining any type of relationship. Students practiced relationship scenarios to see how people respond. They also took surveys at the beginning of the first round to determine or define who they are in a relationship.
“First round for adulting was around relationship maintenance.” Teacher Phoenix went on to say “So something like healthy relationships, how to not get in fights, but basically just trying to make sure folks know how to talk to people, but it also branches into relationships at work, relationships at school, romantic relationships, anything like that.”
Prep students taking the adulting 101 expedition had their own opinions on how the class is making an impact on them. Sophomore Hailey Romero and Junior Giselle Penuela Solis shared their experiences and why they chose the course.
“I chose this course to be financially literate and invest and be wise about your money,” Romero said
Penuela shared a similar answer: “I chose this course because I wanted to prioritize finances.”
Penuela shared a more personal experience on how the course impacted her now. While Romero shares more about how the course would be helpful for the future, she would take the information forward.
“Adulting 101 did have an effect on me because I was looking at my bank account realizing that there’s not much in there so I need to start budgeting what’s actually essential,” Penuela said “The class made me appreciate the money I’m getting from my job.”
“The class is helpful because whatever you learn in that class you will take forward. Like resolving conflict and making a survival guide on personal relationships” Romero stated
Romero and Penuela had different responses on how the course impacted them, but they both agreed that Teacher Phoenix made the class worth taking. Teacher Phoenix created a comfortable environment for their students and an exciting learning experience.
“Teacher Phoenix shows you how to lead and be organized.” Romero shared
Penuela agreed, she said: “Teacher Phoenix is a really good teacher and they are really intimate with their students, to the point where they’re able to talk about their life and experiences to be able to project it onto us. Teach us what our next step is going to be.”
Prep Executive Director Cady Ching and Dean of Culture and Instruction Mary Beth Thompson shared what they thought about the adulting 101 course. They gave their opinions on if adulting 101 should be a course everyone has to take.
“A lot of the alumni shared that what they felt least prepared for in life was financial sustainability and how to pay their bills.” Ms. Ching said, “It is the opinion of some of our alumni that all students should have to take adulting courses.”
“It’s an extremely important course to take, it would be a highly recommended course, I think mandatory might be too strong of a word.” Ms. Thompson stated, “I would hate to mandatorily force them to take a class that they were already getting the information from somewhere else.”
Ms. Ching and Ms. Thompson had shared their personal experiences with the trouble they had growing up not being taught or guided through adulting. They shared different aspects of their experiences like financial and relationship issues.
“What I struggle with the most is the same thing like financial literacy because my family didn’t come from money and I didn’t have any support or guidance growing up, like how to save or how to get loans for college or how to get your credit score up.” Ms. Ching shared
“I wasn’t 100% sure about what a healthy relationship looked like without just giving yourself completely to the other person.” Ms. Thompson went on to say, “And so I think that would have been helpful taking an adulting course prior to going into college.”
Adulting 101 is described as an impactful, comfortable, and exciting environment for students. A lot of people agreed the course should be available for everyone; this way our generation is prepared to experience the real world. Students can prepare to be responsible adults while learning that there is a lot more to adulting than you think.
Featured Image at the top of the post:
Adulting illustration PHOTO CREDIT: Brittany England
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