Graduating unprepared

May God shower blessings on Kent Hartman.

I am at a place in my life where my fiance and I are about to enter the real world – a world where I do not have 180 meals on an ID card and my Cox TV programs will not magically come out of a cord in the wall.

Honestly, it is intimidating and, honestly, I feel unprepared.

Hartman’s Personal and Family Finance class is the only reason I have even heard the word “mortgage” uttered in the entirety of my college experience. Hartman is the only man who has ever run through the basics of balancing a checkbook, assessing your taxes and preparing for retirement.

Why is that?

If college is designed to “prepare its students for life in the real world,” then why in the world have we not been prepared for these types of things?

Why on earth am I three months from graduation and never been educated on diversifying my investments? Why have I been enrolled in a place of “higher learning” for three and a half years and never taken a class like “Modern Financial Responsibility” or “Retirement Planning and Preparation”?

I feel as if every student, at one time or another, has taken a class where they have questioned the course content’s value in their future.

What are Oklahoma Christian’s priorities?

Consider the general education requirements for all students at Oklahoma Christian. If we are truly going to prioritize based on relevance to life after college, we are missing a considerable number of courses.

Why does every student in this university have to take a speech class (which some, but ultimately very few, students will put to practice in adult life), but we do not have to take a class on creating a budget (which literally every student will eventually need)?

Why do we all take a class for the appreciation of fine arts, but we do not have a class like “Financial Planning and Investment?”

With my days in college quickly nearing their end, I am beginning to realize just how undereducated and unprepared I am for life in the real world.

Sure, I can tell you to maintain eye contact when speaking to an audience, I can tell you why Pavlov made a dog drool and I can pick out “Canon in D” when I hear it in Dillards.

I know what instruments they play in Mexico, I can tell you the benefits of meditation and I can even draw you a Venn Diagram detailing how Attila the Hun is and is not like the bad guys in Mulan.

If you asked me how I was planning for retirement, however, I would have to change the subject, or pull out my red binder from Personal and Family Finance.

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