What classes from High school apply best to the real world?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Silverzone
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Silverzone

Silverzone

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This is more or less directed to all the high school graduates. I can't help but think alot of my classes have material that will be of no revelence later in life. So my question is, what knowledge from high school classes have you used in your adult life?
 
It depends on what you want to do with your life. The ones most relevant to everyone are math and science. But if you want to be an artist, maybe the most important class in high school was art. Maybe it was orchestra or band... it all depends.
 
Oddly, I think that a class we had called "American Studies" (a combined history and literature class) is the most useful to me, just because it provided me with a lot of background knowledge useful in day-to-day life and conversation.

My job is a software engineer/programmer, btw. Totally unrelated.
 
I'd say any sort of upper-level English course that will help your writing - the benefits of writing well extend beyond just college, though you're gonna be doing a ton of papers there, too.
 
Zrow
I'd say any sort of upper-level English course that will help your writing - the benefits of writing well extend beyond just college, though you're gonna be doing a ton of papers there, too.
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I spent most of my upper-level english courses analysing the symbolism and alliteration in crappy old-english works. I don't think it helped me learn to write at all (nor can I think of any benefit from those courses). I did take a technical writing course in college that helped though.
 
My high school English taught writing form, paragraph structure, how to present and defend a position. You can't make a sale with "Well, that's not right, this is, 'cause it is."

History was another. I hated history, never saw the point, but out in the real world, deciding who to vote for, figuring how to buy a house, why gas costs so much, knowing the history helps to know the reasons for things. For example, many of our Middle-Eastern troubles stem from the fact that we've spent decades choosing up sides over there and interfering (sorry, advising, presenting, assisting) with their governments in the name of foreign policy and national security.

If you can't spell, form a complete sentence, figure change without your fingers, then you're not going very far in life.
 
wfooshee
If you can't spell, form a complete sentence, figure change without your fingers, then you're not going very far in life.
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If you can't do those things by the time you're in high school, you're probably doomed anyway.
 
Those classes which teach:

1) Good communication skills

2) Functional math skills, including some basic algebra and statistics

3) Critical thinking and analysis

These are the things one will need at a minimum for basic social life skills.
 
For me, the most obvious changes to the way I operate have come from my highschool Psychology class. After that class I noticed that I pay a lot more attention to what other people are doing and thinking, and I consider other people in my actions more often. I seem to be more aware of what others are trying to tell me when they don't actually tell me. I've also made some connections about the behaviour of some people I know and how they were raised. For example, my cousin flaunts his money and tends to act better than other people. That came directly from his mom's side of the family, the ungrateful bunch. I've made it known to him too, so he's stopped pissing me off with his banter.

But that's just what has worked for me, and not necessarily would should have worked.
 
In my engineering course we cover a bit of Business and Accounting and I think that is really useful in the real world no matter what profession your in. Our lecturer has taught us some cool things about how to use the system and stuff people dont know. Not really any use to me yet because Im not earning big money but later on it will. He has also taught us simple stuff like managing our money effectively and what bank accounts are best for us, how to write a good CV etc...
 

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