Formal school education is good for you. But to deal with life, you need a bit more than the education present in textbooks today.
Plus, the education schools provide today is useless to develop real life skills. It is good for getting a job and a career but other aspects of life also matter a lot and most of us learn them during our course of life – what we end up calling experience.
It would be so much more awesome if our school education gave us a heads up on the other important aspects of life.
1. Emergency repairs in your house
A pipe breaks down in the house, we call the plumber. Some electric circuitry shorts, we call the electrician. It could save us a lot of money if we were taught the basic and practical way most of the things in our houses work so that we can fix them in an emergency.
2. That, first impressions are important, and so are the subsequent impressions too
We were taught in school that first impressions matter. But we were never taught that subsequent impressions are as crucial too. That we need to maintain our relations with people around us that benefit them and us.
No one has gotten successful after antagonizing everyone around them.
3. You think you are talented and super cool? It means nothing after you graduate
We may have been unique in school, but when we get to the real world we notice that so many people are just as good and unique as we are. It is just the small world of our school boundaries that made us so important.
Outside, in the real world, so much has to be done before we are recognized and attain the lost glory again.
4. How to cook to save your lives
And not just cooking, but even washing our dirty dishes after we are done eating in them. Because we were mollycoddled by our mom’s brilliant cooking when we lived comfortably in our homes, we never learned to really appreciate it – until we could only cook and eat Maggi noodles to save our lives.
5. Tips to set realistic goals
If only they could tell us that not every person can become a pilot or an author or a brilliant scientist. Sometimes we get too ahead of ourselves in our life just because we are all told that we can be whatever we want.
6. No one gives a damn about your ambitions in this world
No one really cares where you go in your life, really – except for the closest of the people in your lives. Do not, for one second, think that a friend you made in college or a former colleague is extremely happy for your success.
People have their own lives to live and care about, and altruism is a very rare virtue in people.
7. Adult responsibilities
Paying bills, life insurance, filing tax returns, getting your own passport yourselves, paying your mobile bills, look for apartments, etc.
8. Famous joke references so that you are not embarrassed
Popular culture references are extremely important if you want to have a funny conversation with a group.
Because if you do not get the reference, you will be one of those guys who lets out a fake laugh and prays that the others ignore the fact that you didn’t get the joke at all.
9. Real politics, and how our politicians don’t really give a damn
All of them have ulterior motives. All of them operate under big political parties that have bigger motives. Political science and civics is all well and good, but they should have told us that in politics, nothing goes by the books.
10. You are not really special, but you can be if you work really, really hard at it
They end up telling everyone in school that every boy and girl in there is special. But that is not really true or right to do. You need years and years of hard work before you can tap into that talent and do something significant.
11. Tips to live with difficult people in life and how to tolerate them
Bad roommates, passive-aggressive friends, hateful girlfriends – all the bad variety you have to live with during the course of your life. It would have been awesome we were taught how to handle difficult people during the times when we really cannot get away from them.
12. How to fight procrastination, low morale, and depression
When depression hits us we are utterly unprepared for it most of the times. We shove the problem away, calling it laziness and what not. It would have been a lot of help if they taught us to deal with our own minds and how to keep zen during the rough patches in our lives.
13. Dealing with failure and putting bits and pieces of life back together
We failed in school in some subjects, but we always knew that another exam would be held in a few months. School gives us a lot of chances after a case of failure.
The same is not true about life. Failure is hard and crippling, and you need support in friends and families to get through it. Some people do not last, some learn along the way.
14. Actual finance and how it all actually works
Tax, mortgage, FDI, interest rates, stock options and what not. It would have been awesome if we were told how money actually changes hands in complex ways. Because in the end, even a science and arts graduate earns money.
15. Verify for facts before proclaiming to know and share something you believe in on Facebook
Sharing hoax posts on Facebook that is as fake as it gets is so normal these days. It became such a rage that complete websites are dedicated to churning out fake news. And people still believe in them and share them without putting any thought into it.
16. All about scams and how to not fall for them
You may not have fallen for any of them, but many people have. A whole generation fell for the Nigerian scam when they actually sent money to the bank accounts to help the prince escape Africa.
There are more subtle forms of scams today, and not just the online ones. The foremost example would be the way Amway sells its products.
17. How to maintain a work-life balance
Many people grumble and complain that they do not get the time to do what they want after work hours. We spent a lot of time with extra-curricular activities in school and hence it was a shocker to us when we didn’t find any time to relax and chill out.
But there is time to do that too. We have to take time out for it now, and not wait until someone hands us a timetable – just like in school.
18. How to not be an asshole to other people
It is the biggest problem plaguing the world right now. We were taught to be polite to people back in school, but we were never taught how to NOT be an asshole sometimes.
Looks like school gave us all the math, language, and social studies, but no real life skills.
Hope they start including them in the curriculum soon.
